Masks
Want to know a secret? Careful -- no one else can hear.
Want to know a secret? Let me whisper it in your ear.
Want to know a secret? Careful no one else can hear.
Want to know a secret?? It's my deepest darkest fear.
Want to know a secret? Careful no one else can hear.
Want to know a secret? I won't shed a tear.
Want to know a secret? Careful no one else can hear.
Whispers surround us. From the moment we are born until the moment we die, people speak in hushed voices all around. For each whisper there is a subject and an eavesdropper. You see, you never know when someone is listening and when information is being passed on down the line. So, what do we do? Well, we put on our best face. We make ourselves look as aesthetically pleasing as possible so that no one will know what secrets lie within. We hide depression with a smile, self harm with fashion, insecurities with a laugh. Why is it we cover pain with joy? Why is it so easy to trick people into thinking everything is okay?
The simple answer is because people do not want to look into the heart of an issue. They want things to be okay, and so they create a false reality revolving around the concept of being just fine. We are each essentially carving an intricate mask. We paint it our favorite color, and write what we want others to see.
We filter it, we edit it, and we pretend it is our reality.
One like...
thirty likes...
eighty likes...
one hundred likes... later, do we feel any better? Has our true pain been relieved because of the beauty we portrayed? No. No it hasn't. What has been done however, is something terrible -- we have destroyed the flaws that make us human.
Flaws are beautiful. Take art for example: isn't the most beautiful piece the one which has a stray brush mark? Isn't the most valuable book the one that is worn at the seams? Isn't the most beautiful flower the one that has thorns, and is that flower any less beautiful when its color begins to fade?? Does a filter make nature more beautiful?? No... because nature is natural. Aren't you nature too? Yes you are. You see, you can't burn a flower and call it gardening, and that is what masks do to you.
Now, I give you a challenge. Find a mask. Any type of mask. (though I suggest a white masquerade mask). Now, take a sharpie -- and write. Write what you want people to see on the outside: and on the inside, write what only you know, write your story -- the deepest treasures of your heart and mind.... the secrets of your soul. When you finish: decide. Which side of the mask is more profound? Which shows more power? Now think, which side do you really want people to know? Do you really want to keep your story a secret?
