As children, we were the most authentic without fear of judgment. As time grew on, we slowly started putting up walls and masks to hide who we were because we were hurt by others. We felt criticized and judged by the ones closest to us and we felt unsafe to be ourselves. We still have an inner child who feels locked inside a box that deeply wants to be unconditionally loved and cared for. They want to express their joy and play without fear of being hurt. That poor child is asking for your love but first, you need to face your shadow. Healing the wounds that have been self-inflicted or inflicted by others to your inner child will help you become more authentic to yourself, remove your mask. You can't expect to draw in the ones meant for you if you are pretending to be someone else. Remove who you think others want you to be and be who you are when you're alone and feel safest. Allow your inner child to come out to play and have fun in the world because it's really not that serious. Strict and serious is dull. The ones who don't accept you for as you are, aren't meant for you. Allow them to fall away so you can be connected with the ones who WILL appreciate you for exactly who you are. If someone won't accept you for you, they aren't accepting themselves and you don't need them in your life.