Becoming The Mask

Again…

By Snarky LisaPublished 5 months ago • 3 min read

https://unsplash.com/photos/a-woman-wearing-blue-gloves-and-a-face-mask-mrUZtNHvap0

As many people have stated over the years (including me in an article of mine), we all have masks we put on to go about our daily lives. They’re not necessarily dishonest, per se. However, they do help with obscuring the uglier parts of ourselves we prefer not to show to the world.

But what if one’s true personality ends up becoming that of the mask one uses? What if one starts to fit their creation so comfortably that it’s harder to slip out of than it is to keep in? Is there any going back to the way things once were?

Welcome to the world of becoming the mask: the state of faking and/or acting so much, it becomes one’s default. It can be part of when it’s difficult to distinguish between one’s inner truth and falsehood. The lines dividing reality and carefully crafted fiction become blurred, and one’s metaphorical aura so-to-speak may end up being more hazy than before.

For example, take the art of infiltrating the dark side. It is a series of actions which often starts with neutral-to-good intentions, whether it’s simply earning enough money to put food on the table while avoiding the worst of actions as much as possible or outright sneaking in to expose the worst acts of one’s targets.

In theory, doing the above should just be a means to an end. One shouldn’t get attached to one’s temporary allies, and one definitely should not culminate in falling for the horrific ideologies of one’s marks.

In practice, though…is it truly possible to exit and be fully untarnished by one’s intended targets? Or does peer pressure typically have an eerie effect on one’s psyche to the point of rubbing toxic influence on like cream?

Of course, becoming the mask doesn’t always have to be so sinister. Indeed, there are plenty of more mundane examples in this world of lies and disguises becoming more real than their creators could have ever imagined when they started.

Take hobbies and interests. Some might only take up a new hobby or pretend to appreciate something more than they actually do for their own self-serving purposes, such as getting closer to someone or morbid curiosity for example. Eventually, though, they may grow to actually like their chosen activities and initial false preferences, thus making them truly part of their lives.

To be clear: one cannot always become the mask. There are some things in the world which one simply can’t force to become real and/or change, like one’s ethnicity or sexual/romantic preferences. Attempting to forcibly modify them will fail at best and likely backfire.

That being said, human nature is still frequently flexible. We grow and change over the years, whether it’s for better or for worse. Our interests, tastes, and likes might become different as time passes us by, even if it’s at a less breakneck rate as we get older. This very essence allows many people on planet Earth to end up becoming the mask.

So the next time you find yourself liking the outer persona of yourself you've created more and more, examine whether it’s a negative change in ethics or not first. Then, check if you really appreciate the adjustment - or if you’ve simply grown to repress your true feelings and tolerate your chosen environment.

If the answer is no to both of the above questions: embrace the world of becoming the mask. Rest assured, you haven’t been coerced into changing your desires. You’ve simply grown into new ones.

Any other thoughts on this article? Let me know in the comments!