secret lives

I had a conversation with my across-the-street neighbor who told me that at certain levels of society people are expected to act the same, speak the same, be the same. Deviation from the norm often equals being treated as an outsider. At certain levels of society, the person who is "you" is valued for uniqueness. It all depends on what level you want to be in.

I have a secret life. To the outside world, I am a regular mom. I try my best to cope with mommy stuff, I try to talk and act just as every other regular housewife/mommy acts. In secret, I am a writer of various things. What's more secret is that I write speculative fiction.

Not very many people know about my secret life. My across-the-street neighbor knows, but that's because she also has a secret life and I can't tell you about that because it's her secret.

Anyway, we were talking to each other and speculating on how many of these ordinary moms like me led secret lives. It would be interesting to find out, wouldn't it?

Except, my Dutch friend says, except you'll never know because it's secret.