Deceiving ourselves with our own masks

Posted by on Oct 2, 2013 in Wellness, Writing | 0 comments

Deceiving ourselves with our own masks

Owls, tigers, raccoons, monkeys, humans.  We all wear masks of some sort.  We could call these masks personality, identity, stories we tell of ourselves to ourselves, our social media profiles, our clothing, our jobs, our titles.  Masks are a tradition for tribal peoples, celebrations like Mardi Gras, and storytelling in theatre.  They are a way of coming to terms with death, a way of understanding our common stories, of expressing creativity and energy.  Masks are a way of escaping from our present reality.  But stripped down of these coverings, we find our true nature, our individuality, our raw being.  We find what makes us uniquely lovable, uniquely powerful.

To love is to find our true heart vulnerable to another.  Without a mask.

Masks can sometimes be helpful.  At work, at school, at worship service.  They keep society in check, but also hold people at arms length from one another.  Fooling others aside, my question is, what happens when we deceive ourselves with the masks we wear?  When we stay arms length from what lives inside of us, we lose the valuable connection to our own inner beauty and strength.  We lose our power to our shadows, rather than integrating our precious stars.

Righteousness, power over, and scapegoating are all masks for insecurity and fear.  But the strength of what’s underneath is the want to connect, to be loved, which are blocked by masks that turn others away from providing us what we need.

What masks do you wear in the world?  What stories do you tell?  What makeup?  What ties?  What wounds do you hide?  I wonder what might happen if we exposed some of our true nature to heal in loving vulnerability with our neighbors.  A wound cannot be healed until it is seen.  Operating from our masks is not sustainable.

We are not separate.  We forget that we are a part of, influencing, and evolving with that which we see. By all means, wear a mask.  Be creative.  Explore other realities.  But don’t let your mask fool you.  Look underneath for what wants to be healed, for what lies within is sustainable.  A mask does not cover the eyes.  That’s why masks are so fun.  A mask may tell a tall story, but the eyes tell the story of your heart.  

We waste so much energy trying to cover up who we are, when beneath every attitude is the want to be loved, and beneath every anger is a wound to be healed, and beneath every sadness is a fear that there will not be enough time.

When we hesitate in being direct, we unknowingly slip something on, some added layer of protection that keeps us from feeling the world, and often that thin covering is the beginning of a loneliness which, if not put down, diminishes our chances for joy. It’s like wearing gloves every time we touch something, and then, forgetting that we chose to put them on, we complain that nothing feels quite real.

In this way, our challenge each day is not to get dressed to face the world, but to unglove ourselves so that the doorknob feels cold, and the car handle feels wet, and the kiss goodbye feels like the lips of another being soft and unrepeatable.

As you breathe, let each breath undress your being–of attitude, of mood, of history

 

~ The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo

 

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