My H always said my emotions are easy to read. I used to tell him everything I was thinking but have learned to keep the majority of my thoughts to myself. Part of it is that when you have been married as long as we have been--I have learned that he becomes bored when I talk too much. Sometimes I can become repetitive. I used to have a problem with talking endlessly so some of his reactions have taught me that being more sparing with my words makes me more interesting and pleasant to be around. Sometimes he expresses opinions that I don't agree with but if they are just about things in general, like the news, I don't put any energy into to disagreeing (I have gotten to know how he will react to my comments). However, I have learned to value my internal opinions (not that his are invalid). I used to be effected more by his emotions and reactions but have learned that I don't have to react to everything he says--only the things that are important like things that effect our family.

As far as masking your feeling go--I think sometimes we do this when we want to be accepted but feel like we would not be accepted for who we really are. And there are people who are less open minded about certain things and opinions so sometimes we do this because we are reading other people correctly. Other times, we do this because our self esteem is low. IMO it is important to figure out why we are masking our feelings There are times were it is appropriate--even a matter of survival so we don't lose our job, etc. but we also need people in our life that we can be our authentic self with.

It can be hard to find a partner who is a good listener. I try to be a good listener but know that I am not always. I hope you have people in your life with whom you can feel open and authentic with.