I See You, You See Me

Here's ambivablog on why everyone thinks that everyone else has it more together than they do:

We can see other people. They have a bright, bounded solidity we don't have to ourselves.... We perceive ourselves as dark and treacherous oceans rife with downdrafts, riptides, boiling volcanoes and blank spots. We know how far an empathetic remark, good thought or witty joke has to travel, out of what mists and across what abysses, to reach our lips (or fingertips) at the right moment. And so we're startled to discover that other people think we have it all together.

There's a lot more in her long and thoughtful post connecting this idea to the culture of blogging and the decision on what to put in one's blog.