22 October, 2007

The Mask.

The Mask. The best of us all wear a mask at some point in our lives, some more than others.
We cover up our feelings, our mistakes, our secrets with these masks, so that the people around us can't see them. They only see the Mask, beautifully decorated but false nonetheless.
The Mask is a safe haven for many. The Mask gives the appearance of our lives to others the way we wish them to see it. But the Mask can be so dangerous. It covers up things that you never knew it could cover up, and when people can't see past the Mask, they can't see you. They don't really know you. All they know is the Mask you've been holding on to for so long. What happens when you get tired of holding up the Mask? What happens when you let go?

Maybe you're scared that they'll think you're ugly without the Mask, the beautifully crafted and cared for Mask, stripped bare, back down to you.
Is it the fear of what's under the Mask that prevents people from revealing their true selves?

Masks, whilst blocking you from view and judgement, also obscure your vision. Peripheral vision is cut off and all you see is the ugly inside of the Mask.
The Mask not only blinds other people, but it blinds you.
It blinds others into thinking you're something, someone you're not, whether good or bad. But it blinds you into obsession. All you can see and focus on are the things you're trying to cover up, which leads to you only feeling worse, not better about the image you project. It blinds your view of the world, because you don't see it, or other people as they are, you see them from your skewed position behind the mask.

The Mask is both friend and enemy. And getting attached is hard; it gets harder and harder to let go the longer you hold up the Mask, and it will be, inevitably, painful to pry the mask from your weary hidden face.

It's scary, letting go. I suppose the best we can hope for is that others will like what's under the mask, and if they don't, perhaps they will acknowledge us as creators of the Mask, an art form at best.

We should none of us judge what's under anyone's mask, remembering that we all have our own masks from time to time.

2 comments:

B.C. said...

It's often not that we're judging what's underneath their mask, but judging their mask and associating that with being exactly the same as what's underneath.

What made you write this? What's your mask?

I feel like there's a lot of masking going on at Beach Mission sometimes. A lot of the time actually.

Sorry the long wait for reply. I'm only just getting back into blog world.

some girl said...

Interesting point you make there.

I can't remember what made me write this, most things I write that aren't about 'today I went...' usually just spawn from some subconscious brain... spasm...

Yeah I suppose I 'wear a mask' a lot of the time, mostly to disguise how I'm really feeling i.e. if I'm feeling upset and someone asks me how I am I usually just say 'good'.

I think I might be a perpetrator of this 'masking'.
Do you care to elaborate a little? I half-know what you mean.

Yay, blog world!