As a species, we’re a very complicated set of beings. Not only is the human body a marvel in its own right, and a creation which houses arguably the most powerful computer ever created – your brain; we’re also composed of another aspect that is still largely a mystery to us.
That aspect, is of course, who we really are as defined by our mind, our psychology, our “self”, our essence – the intangible agent you use to identify yourself as “me” or “I”.
Yet, this “self” – the seat of your identity, is not a finite or fixed thing, it seems to be multi-faceted and to shift and change according to how we’re feeling internally, or in response to what’s happening around us externally.
And depending on the intensity or variance of the internal or external situations within which we find ourselves, a miraculous thing happens…
The outward manifestation of our essence – our personality – changes in order to match these differing conditions. It’s as if we literally donn a mask of another person and become someone else.
A someone else who’s sometimes only slightly different from “the real me”, and at times someone who’s extremely different.
So why does this happen? What are these masks that we put on there to do?
The answer lies in understanding what the nature of a mask is…
A mask is a barrier of protection – it’s something we can get behind in order to stop something out there, getting in here.
And this has been made very clear with the masks we have to wear due to the Covid-19 situation.
But when we dig into another layer of what the real meaning of masks could be, an obvious question first jumps to mind, and that is “who is actually behind the mask?”
Because when we ask this question, either of ourselves or of someone else, what we’re really doing is starting to contemplate the nature of what we call self-identity.
We want to know what the reality is that sits behind that barrier of protection.
And so I’d like to pose a thought, a line of thinking that will hopefully get your psychological juices flowing…
The world is more controlled now than it probably has been at any other time in modern history. We’re controlled and mentally manipulated through the media we consume, we’re controlled and manipulated through the advertising we’re exposed to, we’re controlled in terms of how we now have to speak or relate to one another, we’re controlled in terms of the types of careers and jobs we’re supposed to have, we’re controlled in our behaviours through being surveilled by cameras, by having mobile phones capturing our every move and word – and I could go on.
So you get the picture.
Now, let me quickly state that the detailing of these different types of control and manipulation is not done to make a point about whether they’re a good or a bad thing. The point is simply that these are a fact, they influence our lives whether we like it or not.
The question I want to pose is that, as a result of these factors, do we as individuals now feel more confident in knowing who we really are, or are we more confused than ever, such that we have absolutely no idea of who we are anymore or what we can be?
And is life giving us a very subtle lesson on one level through the wearing of masks due to Covid, where it’s also asking us to remember who you really are and to remember what it is to be a human being?
Perhaps we’ve been playing too many characters for far too long, and the time is right to once again become authentic?
I’d love to know your thoughts!
Please leave a comment in the comments section.
Until next time!
Leave A Comment