We All Wear Masks

At this point in time, our world has begun to adjust to a new normal- the mask.  I love to scroll through the unusual masks some people have created.  There's the soda bottle face shield, Star War's Darth Vader mask, and the bra mask. I even saw a photo of a man with a pair of men's underwear strapped across his head.  Social distancing from him would NOT be a problem!  My husband was so excited when he found a face shield that looked just like the hats from the 80's group- Devo.  You know the one.  It looks like an expandable Tupperware bowl worn on top of your head.  I have the problem of losing my masks wherever I go.  Because of this, I'm constantly having to buy a new one.  The last one I bought was quite humbling.  I was out shopping and couldn't find my mask, so I bought the only one I could find at the store.  It was in unmarked packaging.  I thought the material looked kind of familiar.  After wearing it in Walmart, I came across some just like it, only labeled.  My mask was made by Hanes underwear.  I had reached a new low when I realized I was wearing underwear on my face almost like the crazy guy!  My daughter said, "At least it's unused underwear."  There is that.  Wearing masks have their drawbacks.  1) It's hard to tell if someone is happy or sad behind a mask when you only see their eyes.  I try to smile really big so people can see my smile through the smile squints in my eyes.  Yes, that's a thing- a smile squint.  2) It's easy to misunderstand people because everyone becomes a mumbler through a mask.  It makes me want to quote Johnny Depp as Willie Wonka.  I can't understand a thing you're saying- mumbler!  But even if we were free of the physical masks we are currently wearing, if we were honest with ourselves, we would still find ourselves wearing emotional masks.  Sometimes, others cannot tell if we are happy or sad because we present what we want the world to see.  Be honest.  If someone passed you and asked how you were doing, what would your answer be?  Fine?  Most of us would answer in the affirmative because we aren't always sure how others would accept us if they knew we weren't really fine.  Another issue is that we don't always express ourselves where people can hear what we are really feeling.  We hold in our feelings until we can't anymore.  Why else do marriages fall apart out of the blue after years .  It took years of never working through feelings and emotions to get to that point.  Then eventually everything blew up.  What would our world look like if we removed the masks?  If we were honest with people?  Maybe those struggling in silence with depression and loneliness could realize there are people who love and support them.  They just didn't know there was a problem.  Maybe relationships could be repaired and restored if we actually shared our hearts and concerns.  We all look forward to the day when these face masks are a thing of the past.  I challenge you to let emotional masks be a thing of the past, too!

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!