Oh the MASK I Wear

 This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2018 at 5:55 pm


One of my favorite writings is called, “I Wear a Thousand Masks.”  Below is a snippet of it:

“I hope you won’t be fooled by me for I wear a mask.  I wear a thousand masks, masks that I’m afraid to take off, and one of them is me.  I am likely to give you the impression that I’m secure, that confidence is my name and coolness my game, that the water’s calm and I’m in command and that I need no one.  But I hope you won’t believe me.  My surface may be smooth…beneath I dwell in confusion, in fear, in aloneness…I panic at the thought of my weakness and fear of being exposed.  That’s why I frantically create a mood to hide behind, a nonchalant, sophisticated façade to shield me from your understanding.  But such understanding is my salvation, my only salvation, and I know it.  If I don’t keep the mask in front of myself I’m afraid you’ll think less of me, that you’ll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.  So I play that game, my desperate pretending game…And so my life becomes a front.  I tell you everything that’s nothing, and nothing of what’s everything, of what’s crying within me.  Who am I, you may wonder?  I am someone you know very well.  I am every man and every woman you meet.”

I absolutely love what I do and the opportunities it affords me.  I love working with people, I love walking with them through difficulties, I love seeing them overcome the obstacles in their life all because there have been those that have helped me lower my “masks” to overcome my obstacles.

Don’t tell anyone I said this, but…..I wear the same masks as you.  Although I may be a “professional”, that does not mean I  don’t have my own difficulties.  You are the expert of you, but maybe if we can lower that mask a little bit, there is a chance you can learn something about yourself that helps you to overcome whatever that obstacle is for you.  Remember, as the writing states, “Who am I, you may wonder?  I am someone you know very well.  I am every man and every woman you meet.”

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