Here we are on the edge of spring, a year in a pandemic and a year behind a mask. Who would have thought? For years we have seen the people of China wear a mask everywhere they go,we have seen Halloween masks every October, and now a year behind paper masks, cloth masks, gators, bandanas and homemade masks of every kind. What effect have these masks had on us all? What masks have we been wearing prior to this past year?
I don’t know about you guys but my hearing has gotten even less acute by the mumble behind the masks. I find myself sometimes whispering a confidence to a coworker and she can’t hear me and can’t read my lips and then we crack up! We have lost the ability to see someone’s smile, their smirk, the whole body cues seem to have changed with this year behind the mask. Lipstick sales have probably even suffered as why bother painting those lips when it sticks to your mask? When I have been to the store and see someone without a mask, well I feel like they have exposed themselves, it makes me want to clutch my pearls (not really just being dramatic). And those that wear their mask below their nose, well makes me think of an appendage hanging out and I want to pull that mask up! You know people have made more faces behind those masks, stuck out their tongue, mumbled behind the cloth. The eyes are now really more telling than ever. The eyebrow raises, the side eye, the wide eye, the eyes squinting with a genuine smile. The eyes are a small connection we have left. No hugs, no touching someone’s arm in conversation, a pat on the back, that lack of physical touch, a smile, a kiss on the cheek. The year behind the mask has changed our communication yet again.
We not only are behind the masks but we are behind our doors. We have been in isolation, keyboard warriors, texts instead of calls, face time versus face to face. We have lost a part of who we were and how do we get back? This made me think back to the time prior to this pandemic. How many different masks were we wearing prior to garbing up like we were going to perform a surgery. The masks weren’t color coordinated, they didn’t have soft loops behind our ears. They were different personas we displayed. The one where we were a street angel and a home devil. We looked one way to everyone else but we hid behind that mask. We didn’t want to show anyone our faults or weaknesses. We wanted people to see us one way but acted another way. Sometimes people were more two faced then mask laden. Now we add this layer of a mask covering and it is one more thing to keep us tucked away. We become more into ourselves and less into others. It gives us one more thing to hide behind. In my mind, we have lost our way to be able to interact. We spend more time on our own, more time on social media, more time away from family and friends. We have a mask we wear in public, one we sometimes hide from ourselves, a mask of emotions from our pasts, a mask of who we want others to view us on social media. The mask is worn to keep away germs, keep is healthy, keep a patient safe during a medical procedure. How about we think of removing the other masks in our lives?
I miss the days of people being real. Seeing a real smile, a genuine hug, getting to know someone flaws and all. When I was younger I had grandiose dreams of what life could be like, definite teenage fantasies, my dad would tell me it didn’t matter what I wore, where I lived and what job I had, I was still me. The core of who I was as a person would be there no matter the size of my jeans, house, or bank account. He was so right. Now not what a teenage girl wanted to hear when she longed to be popular and part of the in crowd. Now this 50+ woman would love to go and tell that silly girl to be brave and be herself. She sometimes has to remind herself of that now. How about you? Feel like maybe you have lost the core of who you are while parading around in different masks? The mask of affluence when struggling, the mask of being healed when past hurts are eating you alive, the mask of knowing it all but not really knowing what matters, the mask of popularity but no one there when you need them, and yes even the mask of makeup to hide our beauty flaws? There are so many masks out there that we all pick up, but are we ready to put them down? Well, I am (well maybe not the makeup haha).
This has been a hard year and there are so many emotions that have effected all of us. How do we get back to where we were? How do we be real again? I wish I knew the answers. I wish some of the masks would disappear. Think about it though…if we posted what we really thought and felt. If we truly said what was on our hearts and listened to what people had to say. To be vulnerable and let someone know what they mean, show more love less hate. We just start being better human beings. This year of a pandemic, political and racial turmoil, isolation, anger and fear has robbed us of ourselves and I daresay a little bit of our humanity. I mean we hoarded toilet paper for heaven’s sake. What if we gave ourselves permission to live life without a mask? That we wear a mask to protect from germs but not hide who we are? Coming out of this pandemic is going to be a challenge. In a way it is going to feel like junior high again. Some have gained the quarantine fifteen, zits from wearing a mask, awkward conversations, unsure where to put your hands, how to actually talk to someone without the aid of emojis and gifs. But maybe, just maybe, it can be a rebirth. A chance to appreciate all the things we have taken for granted. The family get togethers, going to the movies, eating in a restaurant, spending time with those we care about. Maybe we get back to that core of who we truly are. That we drop the mask of bravado and remember to be ourselves. These masks have been here to keep us well, maybe we let the other masks fade so that the whole of us becomes healthy. Just a thought. Now I have to hide behind my mask and join the masses at the grocery store, but I will be the crazy woman smiling like crazy behind my mask!