The thing I hate most about the US is that we wear more Masks than any other country imo. I refuse to wear one tho bcos every time people put on a mask, they lose confidence in their own identity. & It's so hypocritical how it seems like those of us who believe in Jesus wear more masks!! We're tempted to wear these masks especially when we haven't trusted our own identity. I think their fear is they think they are in competition w/ one another on a spiritual curve. But the main reason why they don the masks is they are afraid that the Lords grace wasn't enough. People also wear masks bcos they want to prove to others they are worthy of love, want to be seen as great, not want others to feel sorry for them, or fear if others see them truly as who they are they won't like them. In the inside we are all afraid, naked, & hidden. Just tying to convince to others we're doing "fine". We are convinced that being neat, hidden, & tidy is better than being authentic. Why do we believe God wants us to appear orderly & good; wether we are or not? The mask hides pain and it covers shame w/ appearance & a forced smile. I honestly think we're SO convinced there is no real help for our issues that the best we think we can do is hide our true identities.
There all acting. i befriend those who are not. I have very few friends. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Cause I don't like the way I look. Sometimes I just wanna put a paper bag over my head and hope no one sees me again.
Its talking about separating ones true self from ones ego. Are you the same person you were when you were 2 years old? Like really? On the inside I mean? I'll answer for you. No your not. It's called the "pickle brine affect" when your born you're pure, but through the years, whether you like it or not. Your surroundings, people in your life, commercials, schools, everything will slowly impact the ego side of you. This is what you show people. Who you portray to be. Do you really think that fresh hair cut, those dope J's or the beamer you just got really matter? Should you let those things shape and make who you are? The problem is society has forced everyone to play a role and if you dont follow the crowd and play they're game. Then your different and nobody wants to be different. Right? People are slowly waking up and when the world wakes up, it will be a truly beautiful sight. Hope y'all get what I'm sayin. With love I'm out Happy Growing!!!
I don’t give 2 shits what people think about me. Like me or don’t I could care less. I’ll walk to McDonald’s naked with no fucks given.
All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts ...
We all own a measure of vanity. We wear masks for personal gain. Most often in attempt to win favor, acceptance, validation, praise from our peers. Some people say "I don't care what others think". The truth is, we all do. "I don't care" translates to justifying my position, or prioritizing my focus and deciding to put certain things farther down the list of concerns for now. Which mask we choose may be the result of environment, but the reason we feel the need for a mask in the first place is human nature. It's in our DNA.
You worry wayyy too much. So what if you choose to wear a mask or not? It's what you choose to do and I'm OK with it.
I understand what the OP is getting at. It's about being authentic. Many people who think they are being real don't even know they are wearing one. I agree with the comment that we all have them, for various reasons. Fear is a big one. But the reason we struggle to find what makes us happy in life is because we have become so used to relying on the reality the masks bring that we cannot see what we need to. While masks help us fit, appear to be something else, so they limit what we can perceive, and we can't change what we can't see. We can only experience that which we are the state of mind first. Masks keep us in the illusion. So it is up to us to realise it and, vulnerable as it might feel at the beginning, start to 'go out naked' and learn to be who we really are.
The trouble with connecting the idea of masks with what God wants you to be, OP, makes it even harder. A huge expectation and self-judgment when you realise you are not living up to it. That is heavy, and more likely to keep a mask on than remove it. I would say that if you look at things from a religious perspective, God wants you to be true and authentic, and the unique person you are. Yet it may be that in this digital age of social media, where people get to say things behind all kinds of masks, rarely revealing their true selves as it is easy not to have to, perhaps we are promoting the idea of the false self, or at least making it easier to construct one and hide behind it.
I am myself to the fullest and to almost a fault. I refuse to be anything else for anyone else. I no longer hide who I am with people. You get all of me or none of me. Weaves them out in the beginning. Not later on.
Perhaps more with the younger crowd - the young girls needing acceptance into a cliche; the young men trying to get the girls, etc etc. Needing to be accepted - to belong. nowadays I could honestly care less. I don’t hang out with many people besides my own family - really ever. I don’t have time. I’m up too early, work too much - home too late and when I am not at my day job I am at home working on our home or on the property. I do the best job I can do whether it’s at work or for my family and at that point I can do we need more so as long as I feel like I’ve done the very best that I could do I am over caring what most people think. I don’t wear fancy clothes; and for the most part I dress drab. I did buy a new car this past spring and I do enjoy the heck out of it but that’s for me and I could care less really what other people think of it. As far as stuff goes, I don’t buy things to impress anyone but I’ve got a nice big TV and that’s because I wanted a nice big TV. I have a surround sound hooked to that TV but that’s because I wanted a surround sound hooked up to that TV. And we have what is very slowly becoming a nice home but that’s just so I don’t have to keep working on it once I retire LOL or at least as much. I’m sure I wore some kind of a mask when I was young so that I could fit in and get myself a girl but now that I have those things my mask is getting dusty in the back of the closet. I don’t need it anymore nor do I want it. People can accept me for who I am because what you see is what you get and that’s it. I could care less about impressing anyone these days and I like living way out in the country away from everyone. I think I would make an excellent hermit and I would be totally cool with that. J