Types of Masks

Here is an analysis of how many masks we can wear throughout all our life, at least in my opinion. Have you ever thought about this? Nowadays there are people who say they have no filter, they are even proud of their flaws, like being arrogant or selfish, or stingy. Obviously is ok to love yourself but when you have defaults, the best choice is to understand them and try not to be like that in order to be the best of yourself. We all know we cannot be perfect, but always with respect towards people. We do not care if someone loves screaming at people, but we are not animals, so stop doing that and we know why, right? Because no one likes that anyone screams at us, that is the reason is important to have a filter, that mask. And this is also called: control your emotions in the right way!

No matter how many people would say that it is very important to be yourself, apart from that, it is obvious that anything around us influences our personality, character and attitude towards the decisions we take.

For example, if you think about it, when we are kids every little thing we see: in our family, home, school and more people related have some kind of impact on us. For the good and the bad, that is for sure. In the middle of all this, we are shaping what is evolving inside of our soul and the other sides, what am I trying to say? Imagine that your father yells and screams for any stupid reason, this is: because of the fact that there is no milk in the fridge, or that the TV is not working, or any plan canceled, if nobody tell you, you would think that is ok and common, but what would you think if your friends do not think that? They actually think it is crazy how disturbing it is to see him so angry for those reasons. So, you can have here two options, act like your father or all the opposite. However if you feel that any little thing gets your father and your mother upset, probably, here it is the first time you wear: The Family Mask.

This means, that you have a good behavior at home, like getting on time if you go out in the night (definitely this child has grown up very fast), or like having good marks at school, though this is actually difficult if you have some problems to focus in your studies and subjects, and depending on the kind of family you are being raised, to have good manners and not using slang words, right?

Then we could all agree that we do not behave the same way with our families than with our friends. You can lose yourself with friends, definitely not like that with your family, because let’s be honest, it is not the same. You can have fun in different ways, or maybe not at all with your parents, here the age gap is also important, there are so many different things, such as : the age gap, in their decade it was a distinct type of music, clothes, and if you have siblings, you add that too…

Here would be the Second Mask: The Social Side. We can feel more comfortable with our friends than with our family, because we do not repress any emotion, we can laugh all that we want, can we? Maybe depending on the way we do it, there could be some critiques there, you also need to have good behavior in class, to respect everybody. You know the rules at schools. Is this something you think about? Just writing about it, I feel exhausted. Why is this society mentality like this? No slang words depending where you are, but…, later you see the TV or movies, and they talk however they want, but if you use it in other moments, you are not polite.

Another example is the opinions, we are free to think whatever we want, nevertheless you have to be careful when speaking about politics, I will risk myself to say that this happened in the Coronavirus pandemic, do we have to believe everything in the Media? From what I remember, there was a “group” called The Denialists, and all because they did not believe the news or the reasons behind. And I say this, because thinking opposite to the standard is not well received, isn’t it? So, then we can be ourselves but I guess that with limits.

I will finish with the Third Mask: The Work Environment. Perhaps you think this is like The Social one, but actually, working we should be more serious, even if you are a comedian, due to the fact that you have to choose the best jokes which guarantee success. Then, really, when you are working, no matter the field, it seems that it is not cool to talk, your boss would get upset and warn you, because apparently you are not working properly, but how is this possible? We can check it ourselves, if there are mistakes meanwhile, then stop talking. Another example is the attitude, whenever you answer the phone, in case you are attending people or clients. Sometimes they ask you to be fast, the faster the better, even though I disagree, that could lead to errors.

Do not get me wrong, I was thinking in a Fourth Mask, when you date someone, yet is this true? There might be people thinking they do not wear this one, or none. Furthermore, just think about it thoroughly, we all love that someone can appreciate us and tell us beautiful things, and that should be mutual, so depending in the way we behave or what we do, then the feedback would be there! Come on, we all know how to avoid fights, and many other things. This is called manipulation. It always comes to me: The ShAmys of The Big Bang Theory series, for some people it could be horrible to think about the negotiations in love relationships, but it is a way to be fifty-fifty, everyone wins; if you want something, then do something else for the other person. This also works with children, and even with friends. Even with things you won’t like to do.

I am just mentioning some, believe me, in my case, I can wear at least six masks, and I am only myself a hundred percent when I am alone at home. And you? Have you identified how many masks you wear?