We start life in a mask, the mask that protects us in the womb, keeping the world, out, and keeping us safe in.
At birth, this mask is peeled away, and we enter the world, ready to put on the first of many masks.
The first masks of childhood are reactionary, a response to external impulses and stimuli. Early on we learn that there are certain reactions expected of us, and soon we are adept at simulating these likely motions, mask automatically in place.
As the world teaches her lessons, we learn that we can use masks not only to hide, but also to project a certain mood or message. We learn that we can hide disapproval behind our eyes, and carry it further with a false smile and fancy words. We learn to use these masks to please, to coax, to cajole, and to get what we want.
And so you see a darling child, eyes rounded, lip trembling, angelic cheeks flushing… for that new toy her heart is set on.
You see a young lad, brash, rowdy, foul-mouthed… whose teachers fail to see that it is dyslexia that prevents him from articulating his intelligence.
You see a pretty young thing, eyelashes a-flutter, head tilted to a side, bow-lips pouting… bringing a strapping young hunk to his knees.
You see a father, eyebrows lined up, vein in his cheek throbbing, teeth clenched under his smiling face… wondering if he will get that raise he needs so desperately to buy his family their dream home.
You see a wife, eyes flashing, brow furrowed, lips pursed in anger… wanting nothing more than to be held in her moment of need by the man she loves.
You see a man, eyes cold, head held high and imperious, mouth set… not able to let his hands follow his heart, to reach out, and draw the woman he loves close to him.
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4 comments:
and you see the coward.
eyes pleading, heart racking, lips smiling, feet dancing...
and you see the brave.
eyes pleading, heart racking, lips smiling, feet dancing...
:)beautifully written, both of ye... the maddest of minds and the sanest of masks. I guess the problem is not so much with the masks, as with the fact that, sometimes as we grow older, we grow to love the masks we wear, and sometimes, perhaps, forget the face that lurks behind?
or we never found the lurking face in the first place and are still searching frantically while we mindlessly don the mask set neatly folded at the foot of our beds waiting to be worn the minute our eyes flicker open to see the diamonds in the sky?
Think we know somewhere. So the problem becomes, not one of looking harder in the wide wide world outside, but searching deeper within.
And never trust what's the foot of the bed. Remember Duryodhana?
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