I noticed today that I have a large collection of hats that I wear quite frequently. I have a student hat, boyfriend hat, roommate hat, coworker hat, customer hat, manager hat, church hat, and even a grouchy brother hat. Some people even know when to approach/avoid me depending on what hat I’m wearing.

I have other hats too, and I’m probably not aware of most of them. I can subtly slip a hat on and off without myself even noticing. Other people can force a hat on me, and my hat can be taken away by others as well.

Sometimes I try to wear two different hats. This always results in disaster, because I feel myself becoming fragmented. One hat inevitably masks the influence of the other, and I begin to feel confused as to who I really am. I cannot make wise decisions while wearing two different hats.

Yet inevitably I am faced with these sorts of two-hat decisions. To make consistently wise decisions, do I force myself to wear only one hat at a time? Or do I consolidate my hats into a more manageable number — say… one?