One dimensional people are perfect. They must be perfect, because aside from the results of their “What Muppet character are you” Facebook quiz, the way they present themselves in public is more filtered and phony than the SEC could ever dream of becoming.

One dimensional people never talk about what a married couple does when they have ten minutes alone. They don’t voice opinions that are different from the people around them. One dimensional people don’t take risks or change their plans. They never need anti-depressants. One dimensional people are more interested in how they appear to others than in how they feel.

One dimensional people’s children never have bad skin or psychological growing pains. Their children may be six or seven years old, but they are handsome young men and mature young women. One dimensional people’s children never do stupid stuff. Their children are the very best at all academic and athletic endeavors.

Our family is composed of real, 3-dimensional human beings. People who know our family in real life know that we are a big,*loud, messy family who love each other completely. We learn from our mistakes instead of denying them. We care about our schools, community and world. We don’t ignore the things that are broken. We share opinions and ideas in an effort to cooperatively make things better. We are able to laugh when we fall down and kick ourselves if we don’t get back up again. Being the same person when someone else is looking, as who you are when you are alone, is quite liberating.

When I hear about one-dimensional people intimidating people who are speaking out to make things better, it makes me angry. The courage and conviction to speak will do far more good than superficial pretentiousness. Don’t hide yourself from the world. One-dimensional people have equally flat and phony relationships with others. One dimensional people want to flatten you into a cartoon caricature of a person. They want you to be one-dimensional. You’re better than that. You have opinions and ideas and a desire to grow as a person. You care about people other than yourself. You have a real personality. You are 3-dimensional.

*Some of us are louder than others.