Insecure Quote by Christa Parrish
““I am not Seamus, who tacks emotions to the outside of his skin and whose words charge from his mouth on horseback. No one sees through me, except Xavier, and he does so not because I choose to give him access but because he knows himself. I will have to offer myself to Seamus, if I want something 'more' with him. Part of me can't believe I'd contemplate it, even for a moment. What do I have in common with an oversized, yarn-spinning, bread-mauling, divorced deliveryman attached to a seven-year-old? The rest of me doesn't know if I remember how to be close to another person. I practice mimicry, a Viceroy butterfly masquerading as a Monarch, a Superb Lyrebird echoing the calls of everything from chickadees to chain saws. I practice stories of my past, telling this sad memory or that scary one, and people feel I'm confiding in them because the words touch their deepest wounds, not because the tales hold any emotional resonance for me. My intimacies, the ones that have become my Sisyphus stones, long-term romantic relationships, the college one, ended with the nice young man shocked when I said I didn't love him and we had nothing in common. "We've spent two years talking about everything," he said. Yes, mimicry.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Unknown (fictional monologue)
The narrator describes using mimicry and storytelling to connect, fearing genuine intimacy, and questioning what they share with another.
In simple terms: They hide behind performance, doubting real closeness.
Seek authentic connection beyond performance.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- therapy
- dating
- creative writing
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What parts of yourself are performative?
- How can you reveal genuine feelings?
Mimicry can become a barrier to true intimacy.