Masks of Life

It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, or how much you have. You have spent a significant part of your life creating and wearing masks to hide your true identity. Authentic masks have become convenient in protecting our true identity in social situations. They bring us power, acceptance, or even can allow us to survive. Unfortunately, once used, they become pretty permanent.

These masks come in all varieties, shapes, and sizes and, in many cases, serve you quite well. They help to project the image that you want. But still, inside of us, there is a real person who is slowly suffocated by the masks we have chosen to wear.

Why I Built Masks

As early as I can remember, there are many memories of support, recognition of who I was, and an appreciation for what I brought to the world. Then it started to change; other people did not seem to accept me as my loved ones did.

It is one of nature’s oldest forms of protection, camouflage. We feel safe by disguising the attributes that we take criticism for, causing us to experience pain. I think we feel protected, but it is false protection at a considerable price.

Although I was still the friendly, caring kid I was, I started to put on a mask that would help me get through the rough seas of acceptance that childhood makes you travel. It worked! I could hide and be whatever was more acceptable, funnier, meaner, less accepting of others—even narrow-minded and worse, unkind, insensitive, and even cruel.

Careful It May Get Stuck

The masks I constructed to get through the pains of growing up were helpful. It would be

insane to claim anything else. However, there is a problem we never think of at first. The masks we build become less of a cover and more of a permanent fixture. I began to forget who I was.

Since I wore the mask I wore, that became the dominant feature of my personality. I assume that actors sometimes have difficulty separating themselves from their characters. My life slowly yet inevitably became a permanent production of the mask that now was seemingly stuck in my existence.

The Real Tragedy

After a while, we have forgotten all about who we were in the past and the essence that we were born with that made us great in the first place. Sometimes events have forced us to wear the mask for protection, and the events which cause this frighten us so much that we feel we need them forever.

Then as life passes and we realize that something isn’t right, we see that the mask we are wearing has made it almost impossible to remember anything about who we are. We don’t think we could recognize ourselves, even if we saw our true selves. That loss of identity is the real tragedy of the mask.

Losing your Mask

Like anything built sturdily and over time, you are getting rid of your mask is not something you can do in a day, a week, or sometimes even a year. Yet it is not complicated, and anyone can do it.

The trick to getting rid of your mask is remembering who you are and learning to accept it and love that person. The negative voices that fill your head with gibberish need to be expelled. All past bad experiences need to be forgiven, and you need to forgive yourself. Pay attention to the positive thoughts and feelings that surround being yourself.

The biggest fear of someone who wears a mask is that someone else will see through it and reject or be horrified by what they see. That can’t be the case because we are born with a unique person inside that is the essence of greatness. If someone sees something other than that, they are looking in a mirror, understanding their problems, not yours.

“We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin.” – André Berthiaume

“Nothing is more real than the masks we make to show each other who we are.” – Christopher Barzak

“Like icebergs, people normally expose only a small part of themselves, and generally just the part they wish to show.” – Nikki

“People seldom change. Only their masks do. It is only our perception of them and the perception they have of themselves that actually change.” – Shannon L. Alder