The Invisible Mask

You must be thinking I’m here to talk about some superhero disguised in a mask, his face invisible to others. Something like batman or spiderman? Well, NO!

I’m here to talk about us. Yes, folks! We all wear masks, invisible, but we do.

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And we don’t just wear them, and we also keep changing the masks; every day, every time. These masks have become means of defining us. We are no more what we really are but what our masks reveal us to be. What do you mean by invisible masks? What does it comprise of?

All the expectations that people have from you, how they want you to be and thus neglecting what you are. The people who sketch you from the rumors they hear about you. The way society thinks about you. And, of course, neighbors and relatives are constantly poking you. How each day turns out to be so hard, and yet you put a smile on your face, hiding the tears. All of these, along with tons of other things, create this invisible mask around your face, turning you into someone you are not, someone you don’t want to be yet is forced to.

It’s easy to spot a visible mask, but you never know how heavy the invisible mask is; how much weight that person is carrying off the mask he’s forced to wear.

Can’t we live a mask-free life, being who we really are? Is it that difficult to believe in yourself? Are you a bird caught by these people and forced to be caged? Don’t you want to spread your wings, breathe in all the air that your lungs could hold, and fly high; so that the sky is all yours! Are you really going to exist on the terms and conditions of others?

LIFE. It merely does not mean breathing and going through all the biological stuff of it. It means to live every moment of your life as if it’s your last. To believe in yourself, even when no one does. Because in the end, you need no one but yourself. You are your own savior. You are what you choose to be.

Believe in yourself. Tear off the mask and throw it away. Be who you are, and do what you want to. You are the author of your life; don’t let others write it. Life is too short to live according to the rules and regulations of other people. Here people include the ones you don’t know and also the ones you do know. It’s a hard thing, right, to go against them. Don’t you think it’s even harder to go against your own wish, your heart’s will, the only thing your soul longs for?

Make them understand why you want to be you and not what they want you to be. Don’t let them manipulate you into being someone else. Instead, make yourself manipulative. Set yourself free from the invisible cage. Remove the invisible mask that hides your true self.

Peace.

“Masks beneath masks until suddenly the bare bloodless skull.”
Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

Published by
Shivangi Chaurasia