We come into the world bared for all to see, gifted with those certain instructions survival of the fittest deemed important enough to pass along. As we pass through this life, we gather experiences. These experiences shape our reactions; they are our masks.
We all have them. A mask for our families, a mask for our friends, for our acquaintances, our enemies, strangers, our pets, ourselves. Personalities, we would call them. If you think carefully enough, are we really the same around our friends as we are around our families, or co-workers? Are we even the same around our parents, as we are around our siblings?
We have no concrete personality, we rifle between them as one would shuffle between masquerade masks; picking the right one for each and every situation.
So what is our true face? Has the world hardened our usually temporary masks to the point where we can no longer recognize ourselves? Have we buried the truth so deep that we can’t even find it anymore? Will we ever escape this masquerade long enough to see our true faces? If they even exist.
We all have them. A mask for our families, a mask for our friends, for our acquaintances, our enemies, strangers, our pets, ourselves. Personalities, we would call them. If you think carefully enough, are we really the same around our friends as we are around our families, or co-workers? Are we even the same around our parents, as we are around our siblings?
We have no concrete personality, we rifle between them as one would shuffle between masquerade masks; picking the right one for each and every situation.
So what is our true face? Has the world hardened our usually temporary masks to the point where we can no longer recognize ourselves? Have we buried the truth so deep that we can’t even find it anymore? Will we ever escape this masquerade long enough to see our true faces? If they even exist.
There is a wall
Where shadows come to rest
There is a well
Where wishes come abreast.
It’s hidden behind the thorns.
It’s protected by the gates.
It’s an honor you must earn.
It’s a want you must forsake.
You’ll have to dig up the truth
You’ve worked so hard to bury.
You’ll see who you are,
Or you’ll scoff and move along.
-AJ Sandhu
Escapades of a Bored Writer 
Awesome! This is so true that people hide behind masks. It makes me think of Shakespeare's “As You Like It” when Rosalyn masquerades as a male to make sure Orlando actually loves her.
Such a good piece. :]
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Does this make everyone fake? If no one even knows themselves?
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@Dominic Knight: Thank you! I love the way you write as well. It's has a specific flair.
@Anonymous: You can think of it like that. The idea isn't that we're “fake,” but that we don't really know ourselves in EVERY aspect. We don't really know how we'll react until we've done it. I know you meant differently with saying we're fake, but it narrows the idea of the piece to just our interactions and not our entirety.
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“These experiences shape our reactions; they are our masks.”
Think of the sheltered, innocent & somewhat spoiled 'daddy's girl', whose had no hardships and has sailed through her childhood without any cares or worries, without any 'experiences'. Is she an open book, no masks? No personality? Would you consider this girl to have a “true face”?
Just trying to find a contradiction to your reasoning, lol.
I've always thought I was a person who knew myself, I didn't change myself depending on who I'm around, but I realize I do have plenty of masks, but most of the time I do recognize when I'm wearing one, just didn't think about it as if it was a different side of myself, as a different personality.
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The idea is tha none of us have a personality. These “masks” aren't just personality masks, like I said in the earlier post, it's about everything. Body language, voice inflection, thought processes, even the sheltered girl has reactions to the situations she faces. She's no different from anyone else, no matter how we dream that our mind is “different” or unique. I, like you, think and react in the way that my experiences have taught me, not as my “personality” dictates. I don't really know the mask I wear, but I am contented knowing that I am not rigid, but fluid. Think of the word mask as thought processes.
This post isn't so much reasoning, as it is introducing a scientific idea in an eloquent fashion.
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