Intuition and Divine Whispers

Who is hiding behind your mask? What if I told you that most people on the planet are comfortable hiding behind a mask and presenting false personas? To some extent, we play our role as actors adorning our faces with masks in our daily lives, especially when feeling pressured by societal norms. Social media creates added pressure for some people intent on living up to the standards of peers by posting aspects of their lives, such as weddings, engagements, traveling, purchasing new homes, flaunting designer clothes, new business ventures, and the list goes on. What's wrong with sharing our successes, or joyful moments with family and dear friends on social media? Absolutely nothing is wrong with posting videos or photos of what's transpiring in our lives, after all, we share our achievements and happy moments quite often on social media. However, when we put on facades that we're financially stable enough to make boss moves but the bank account is consistently in the red, and bill collectors are calling something is wrong with this picture. The mask of being in control and financially stable but living beyond our means to fit in for acceptance among many other masks serves no purpose outside of the appearance of stability. To appease our parents, we learned at an early age how to be the ideal son or daughter. Some parents were not that easily fooled and could see past the masks, but this didn't stop us from adorning new masks. The goal was to build trust and admiration from our parents while navigating through life seeking some form of stability during our journey of self-discovery amid other defense mechanisms that we believed protected us from being ridiculed or ostracized. I've laughed when I wanted to cry, showed strength when I was at my weakest point, and put on a brave face when I was afraid. Such pretense can be frustrating leading to pent-up emotions that will eventually culminate into anger. Some people can hide certain emotions, but anger is an emotion that's difficult to hide no matter how convincing of an actor you are.

What are the triggers in life that cause us to hide behind masks? Is it because of thinking that we must measure up to what society deems as the ideal image? Could it be that our fears, vulnerabilities, and insecurities don't allow us to be the best version of our authentic selves because of believing that we still won't be accepted? When we aren't comfortable in our skin, we seek refuge hidden behind masks to keep others from discovering who we are. Hence the masks keep us safely hidden (at least in our minds) because we don't want to be rejected or hurt. What is it that we fear about revealing our authentic selves? Being the unique person with the power to morph into different personas after breaking free from the false personas and restraints that keep us hidden behind masks is a giant step toward self-empowerment. We should always strive to connect to our true selves, which is where loving ourselves exudes confidence because of learning to embrace all aspects of who we are. In doing so, there's nothing wrong with improving our health with a proper diet and exercise, skincare regimens, and other procedures that enhance our appearance. The goal is to be comfortable in your skin while discovering the treasure within that you've buried beneath layers of self-doubt and shame for whatever reason. Being who you are at your most authentic state void of thinking that you have to hide behind masks is where your power lies. When hiding behind masks, we create a persona of who we think someone else believes we should be, thus giving away our power. This is how we lose ourselves because the mask starts to feel comfortable when taking on the role of actors performing on center stage to appease others. Morphing in and out of the various roles becomes a lifestyle and habit, often occurring throughout our lives. Are there benefits to wearing masks of inauthenticity, if so, how do they serve us? The masks similar to placebos may make you feel better and boost your ego, creating somewhat of a high that numbs the senses to a certain extent until you crash and burn. Hiding behind masks because of wanting to be accepted though it may feel as if it's helping us to cope is not getting to the root of the problem. It's merely a band-aid effect covering an open wound that needs treatment. When the band-aid is removed the pain feels worse until the wound is healed. We can never reach our full potential if we allow unhealed childhood wounds to hinder us from connecting to our authentic selves. When hiding behind masks we’re in a sense building walls to keep others from discovering our true selves, which may explain why it's difficult for some people to experience authentic relationships not only with friends but in romantic relationships as well. Recapping why we wear masks: It’s because we don't want to reveal our authentic selves, so we hide our fears, vulnerabilities, our sexuality, our emotions such as sadness or depression, etc., to appear as if we're in control. This form of inauthenticity or pretense is not being in control but rather a form of manipulation because we fear being exposed. There should be a point in life when a person tires of hiding behind masks because of the energy that it takes to keep up the facade. When alone with yourself, you may wonder how much longer you'll play the roles because it's an exhaustive task that drains not only the mind but the spirit as well. How do we heal from past hurts to reclaim and reveal our authentic selves and is there some form of integration to begin the healing process? Introspection is a necessity and in more extreme cases therapy or life coaching may be required.