We've all been
Don Draper.

Don Draper is the best-looking liar on television.

He's successful. Sharp. The kind of man other men want to be — until you watch long enough to see what's underneath. A man running from himself so hard he literally became someone else.

Every drink. Every affair. Every perfectly delivered pitch. It's all the same thing — distance. Distance from the kid who grew up with nothing. Distance from the feelings he can't outrun no matter how many hotel rooms he checks into.

Most men aren't hiding a stolen identity. But plenty are performing a version of themselves that looks right from the outside and feels hollow on the inside. The work persona. The "I'm fine" when you're not. The refusal to let anyone close enough to see what's actually going on.

• You can build an incredible life on the outside and be completely empty on the inside.
• At some point you have to stop running and meet yourself where you are.

Don Draper had everything a man could want.

And none of it was real. Because he wasn't.