#hidingface

Like imma color this tomorrow, but i worked way to hard on this lineart ok

Why do you wear masks?

One of the most common reasons we wear masks is what I think of as Imposter Syndrome/Fraud Syndrome—the fear that the world is going to find us out.

One of our greatest fears is that if we show our true selves, the world will say, “Oh, it’s just you.” But being just you is actually the best and most perfect thing you could ever be.

According to Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” Or if you are interested in the spiritual perspective, the Psalmist wrote, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” 

There are three main reasons why we should shed our masks.

First reason is we need to LIVE to our POTENTIAL.  We have to bring all of who we are to what we do. There are numerous people who have our same skill-sets, or maybe an even better one. But none of these people bring the same personality, creativity, and spirit to the job that you do. That’s something they can’t match. 

The very irony is that we humans often put a mask that part of ourselves at work and lose our greatest potential. Honestly, there are many people who have a skillful abilities but through judgement, persecution, even putting down yourself. You put a mask to hide your true Identity. It cause you a lot to lose your potential and abilities.

The second reason is relief. It is exhausting to live an inauthentic life. You put on a mask or two or 10, then take a few off, then put a couple more on. It’s exhausting! Worst of all, you start forgetting who you really are. As comedian and actress Fanny Brice explained, “Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?”

The third reason is healing. When we wear masks, we carve a piece of ourselves out—withholding parts of ourselves as unworthy. But in relationships, we can’t be truly healed unless we offer up all the pieces. It’s like handing someone a broken vase and asking him or her to fix it but holding back two or three of the broken pieces. As one of the pastors of Hope City Church in Indianapolis, Indiana explained, “Masks make shallow what God has intended to be deep. Everything in our lives get cheated when we choose to hide behind our masks.”

We weren’t born with masks. We put them on, so we can take them off. Start with this simple exercise: 

Think about a negative message you have held onto. Ask yourself whether it is true?  More than likely, the answer is no. 

And if it is not, then you have to ask these questions: Why am I carrying that message? If I put it down, what would happen? Probably nothing. The main risk we face is the world’s reaction. Opening yourself up threatens others; it invites them to reevaluate their own lives. Many times, it forces them to realize that they too have the power to change, but they haven’t.

Don’t let that stop you. Don’t pull your mask partially off then let the world scare you into putting it back on. As the poet E. E. Cummings wrote, “The greatest battle we face as human beings is the battle to protect our true selves from the self the world wants us to become.”