E of central Iowa asks:

Dear GCW, I want several close friends but I’m afraid getting close will cause me to lose part of myself. I feel split in two.

Do you feel you must choose between having a personality and being alone?

You were boxed in and controlled as a child. Other people represented a threat to your spirit, so you had to hide your true self deep within and protect the soft heart and soul, the sweet tender bud of you.

You still keep yourself apart for fear others will steal your soul, but you and you alone are in command of your soul and your life energies! My dear beloved, you are no longer a dependent child. You no longer need to pull in and shield your uniqueness, your true light, your wise self from others who misunderstand you. You’ve been given a body, free will, and you are a soul that will endure beyond the boundaries of time and space. You can learn this now, or in another lifetime. My beloved one, which do you choose?

Hiding your light from others for fear of theft or attack has become a bad habit you first learned as a child for self protection. It is time to reclaim your power to be do and have all you desire, all you are, to live with your dial turned to the highest setting possible! Joy!

Know that you are the captain of your ship now! You too can be fully yourself, surrounded by friends who love you just as you are!