Living a lie

Secrets. Things you don't want someone/anyone to know.

Usual reason given for keeping a secret: it may hurt the person the secret is kept from if they find out, or it may in someway benefit them if they do not find out, for example a surprise party must remain a secret to work.

Not a very common reason for a secret being kept.

Usual reason a secret is actually kept: the person the secret is about will appear in a bad light and potentially get into trouble or be deeply embarrassed if the secret is found out.

But secrets are a burden, the worse the outcome of discovery would be, the more of a weight it becomes. Being found out is often a blessed relief because that burden is gone, and the repurcussions may never be as awful as imagined.

One hopes.

The contented soul would have no secrets. It is not necessary to be an open book, there must always be more to uncover, but how pleasant not to have to actively conceal anything.