Masquerade!

The masquerade ball, my favorite type of party! The beauty of the masquerade ball is that everyone looks fabulous yet you have no clue who the people around you are because everyone there is wearing a mask. Everyone hides behind something uniquely beautiful yet the same and it's the one night where doing that is acceptable.

Masquerades are fun (a lot of fun!) but they don't stop when you leave the ballroom. The truth is that we live in a constant masquerade, everyone around us is in a mask. Almost everyone (me included) is really afraid to show their true colors. In a society that thrives on judgement it is really hard to be proud of who we are as individuals. We all live with our faces under different masks - like a masquerade. The only difference is these masks are more difficult to remove.

Depending on where we are in our life depends on what mask we get to "show-off". Almost everyone puts up a face - the happy face when you are really sad or the "I don't care" face when you really do care . . . a lot - and each of these faces is a mask. This is something that society has built into our human nature; whether we like it or not it is there and there to stay.

The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite musicals and my favorite song from it is titled "Masquerade"(coincidence, I think not!). This song takes place at a literal masquerade ball but, the lyrics of the chorus are applicable to everyday life.

"Masquerade! Paper faces on parade, masquerade! Hide your face so the world will never find you. Masquerade! Every face a different shade, masquerade! Look around there's another mask behind you"

I think my favorite line in this whole song is "Hide your face so the world will never find you," because it is so applicable to everyday life in the 21st century. Everyone, in some way, shape, form or fashion hides behind their masks so that the world won't find them, won't find out who they really are when their mask is off.  Why do we hide behind these masks? This is a question that I feel I will never know the answer to, but it is good to get it out there anyway.

Life is like a massive masquerade ball and, just like a masquerade ball, is fun! At a masquerade ball it is fun not knowing who everyone is and just dancing and eating and drinking with everyone because when everyone looks the same we are all equals. But soon this equality gets old and we leave the ball. In life though, we don't have an option to leave the ball, instead we opt to change our masks just so we can shake things up a bit, and we do until everyone begins to look the same again. We are stuck in a masquerade that never ends and the only way to end it is for someone to rip off their mask and show who they really are. It just takes one person and others will soon follow behind.

So here are the questions I am asking myself and (since I am sharing it now) you: if you has to rip off your mask, would you be ready to show your true colors? Are confident enough with who you truly are with NO masks to be able to show the world? 

I ask myself these questions everyday. I don't want to be just another "paper face" in a crowd. I want to be the person that sticks out from the rest for really being myself - no cover-ups, no masks. So everyday I challenge myself to remove my masks and be as authentic and genuine as I possibly can. It is hard but everyday I get better and better at it and, hopefully one day I won't even have to think about it and I will just naturally be my most genuine and authentic self. 

So here is my challenge for you: figure out what mask you are wearing during this specific season in your life then, once you have that figured out, every morning - at some point and time - ask yourself the questions above and try to be as honest and genuine in your answers (you are the only person that is going to hear the answers so why not be honest with yourself) and then, throughout the day make a conscious effort (based on the answers to those questions of course) to be the most genuine, authentic version of yourself that you can be. By doing this everyday you will start the process of slowing ripping off your masks, one-by-one. Becoming your most authentic self is NOT going to be an easy overnight change and will require a lot of effort. In society it is really hard to show your true colors and you will probably be ridiculed for it but, there is nothing more liberating than realizing that, even for an hour, you can be the truest version of yourself around others with no masks. Once you have felt the feeling of being genuine and authentic it won't matter what people say because you will do everything in your power to be that person all the time, to be YOU all the time.

Breaking free from the masquerade will be difficult, but it is a challenge I am willing conquer. 

I would much rather be extraordinary at a masquerade with no mask than ordinary with a mask on!