Journal #25: Wearing a Mask

Have you ever worn a mask? And I do not mean wearing a party mask or a Halloween mask or wearing a mask at a masquerade ball. I mean an imaginary mask. Have you ever worn an imaginary mask? Wearing this, you disguised your true identity with another that was not your own. You wore a mask to cover up your personality, your true self, whether it was to impress someone, fear of not being accepted by a certain group, or contempt for yourself. Everyone has probably worn a mask at some time or another. This next story is a story about a young girl who wore a mask at one point in her life.

Her name was Susan. Susan was probably the sweetest, the nicest, and most innocent girl you would ever meet. She was always happy and cheery, even when everything around her seemed sad. She was there to help a hand, and she never complained about the work. She was always the first to volunteer, and many people liked her. However, there was a group of girls who did not. These girls were considered the "in" crowd of the school. Susan was not part of this group, but she had always admired them, for their clothes, for their hair, for their attitudes. At heart she wanted to be like them. Susan with her own personality was not accepted by them. She did not like this at all. She decided to be more and more like them, so that she too would be part of the "in" crowd. First she higlighted her hair, cut it, and fixed it into the right style. She bought new clothes to match them. Soon she was acting like them, with bad attitudes and mood swings. She dropped her friends to hang out with them. Finally she was accepted by the "in" crowd! But when she got into the group she found out it was not as glamorous as she thought. Susan put on a mask, hid her true identity, and for what? Nothing! It was not worth it. So bottom line is, do not wear a mask just to fit in. You are you, and only you. Do not just change to be like someone else. If the world was all the same without much difference, it would be extremely boring. So do not hide behind your imaginary mask. Be yourself.