Footsteps To Freedom

She said, “We all wear masks and sometimes it’s hard to take them off because we don’t want others to see our vulnerabilities. Someone else added, “But the real beauty is behind the mask!”. And they are both right. We can be so unsure of ourselves, so critical. My hair is too short or too long. I need to lose weight. My butt is flat, my boobs are small. My lips are too full. We pick ourselves apart and what is true beauty is covered by the mask of deception. We are afraid that others see our imperfections, so we mask up. “In recent developments studies, masking has evolved and is now defined as concealing one’s emotions by portraying another emotion. It is mostly used to conceal a negative emotion. Usually sadness, frustration, and anger with a positive emotion”. We mask so often we don’t recognize our true feelings.

Layers and layers of masks are developed over the years. Hiding behind them masks can be freeing but also exhausting. Freeing because we can live a life that seems good to those around us. Exhausting because hiding who we are can be overwhelming and draining. “As exhausting as it is to wear the mask, the thought of letting it fall can be a terrifying concept, especially if you do not like what you are hiding.” See Beyond.com says “some commentators exhort us to be our authentic selves for the sake of our mental health and personal integrity”. “Others support some amount of repression of our true selves when we are out in the world”. Because the world can be cruel. Both sides are a little bit right. On one hand it can be freeing and on the other hand it can be exhausting. It is like wearing our masks in the pandemic it is necessary, but we cannot wear them 24/7. Therefore, it is necessary to let down our masks.

God said we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are flawlessly, flawed. Our scars and pain tell stories to push us to our gifts. Our scars become beauty marks. And our flaws make us human.

During the pandemic masks were in high demand. They came in all types of colors and styles. We started wearing ones that matched our clothes and then ones that garnered slogans. But over time, we grew weary of trying to keep up with all of that and we are now just wearing simple, breathable surgical masks. Why? Because at some point, we had to understand that it was not the color, style or slogan on the masks that made it effective, what made it effective was the ability to still live our lives in uncertain times and still execute our daily lives almost as if the masks did not exist.

Take them off and be free! Be authentic. The real beauty is behind the masks.