‘Self-Portrait With Mask’ by Felix Nussbaum (1928)
“We are intensely attached,” Matthew Kelly observes, “to being perceived in a positive light. Even by people we don’t know and will never meet. Perhaps most telling, we even want to be perceived positively by people we don’t like. In short, we want everyone to like us.
“This, of course, leads us to present ourselves in ways that are inauthentic. This is a recipe for disaster. I am never happy when I pretend to be someone I am not. The birth of social media has put this pretending on steroids. We seem more interested in pretending to live interesting lives than actually living interesting lives. (Instead), we should see social media as a way to bring a positive message of hope to a realm filled with so much negativity and hopelessness.”
When will we stop wearing masks? Not the kind we wore during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the kind we were wearing long before it began? The kind that hides who we are? The kind that keep us from infecting our culture with the “virus” of hope it so desperately needs?
“Live life with a due sense of responsibility, not as those who do not know the meaning of life, but as those who do.” ~Ephesians 5:15
Great Post, thanks for sharing
My privilege, L.G.
Mitch. Good reminder: Asking questions of another, perhaps a stranger to you. Questions that cannot be answered with a yes or no. Masks indeed. I hide with my neutral face while wheeling my squeaking cart, trying my best to get to the check out before anyone else. Excuse me. Sorry. Can I please. Thank you. civilized words forgotten.
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What a beautiful/ugly/brilliant/absurd species we are, eh, Norm?
Mitch, I could not agree with you more. Very insight full post.
Thank you.
Amen!
Excellent points about social awareness to think about. Thanks, Mitch. 🙂
My privilege, Nancy.
yes, I agree excellent points.
I often thought about this and about laying down the masks we all may be wearing. Indeed, people want to be liked and tend to do what it needs to get respect and appreciation. Depending on how people were raised and influenced over the years they may not even recognize that they are wearing maks. I think that is the misunderstanding and difficult part which is to be uncovered.
I agree, Erika.
So true. Blessings
You too, Pete.
Very true. One of the things I love most about recovery ministry is that (generally speaking) I get to see desperate people take of their masks and come to respect the person they see in the mirror. I am surrounded by more positivity in a recovery meeting some days than I am in church on Sunday mornings!
I’ve observed that in recovering addicts many times, Scott.
Oh you nailed it, I never thought about a mask that way before. Thank you!
My privilege, Diane.
So much to think about here.
Social media is messy and now there are more staged videos. I think I prefer the idiotic nonsense, at least those are real and they make us laugh while we still question the stupidity.
Terrific, thoughtful post, Mitch.
Thank you, Mitzy.
Sadly we will never stop wearing masks until we embrace ourselves as we are not as we would like. I’m on the weird side. If you like me, Great. If not that’s okay too. People need to be confident in their own skin, because they’l never fit in someone else’s. 🤣😎🙃
True.
Ahh the pressure to fit in and be liked. For me the real question is “liked by whom?” In general, I like people, like to help people, and like to find the best in people. However, I am also (proudly) an introvert who likes my “me-time” and quiet, serious and intelligent conversations, but I do not enjoy, and am certainly not good at, the social-butterfly interactions of making shallow comments for a minute then move on to the next person. My wife of course is the exact opposite in the social sense, although we are very similar in every other part of our world-view. After years of going to her many friends’ parties in response to comments like “You would have much more fun if you were more social” and then wandering around in a solitary bubble while she is off chatting to everyone, I have finally taken ownership of my nature and the way I “have fun”. May now goes to her parties without me, and I stay home and read a book, potter on my hobbies, go for a long walk ‘looking for photographs’ or meet up with another introvert friend for a chat (occasionally). Her friends still ‘like’ me, but in an absent sort of way.
Don’t get me wrong – I like people and I like socialising, but I need A LOT of me-time and my own type of social interactions.
I understand, David. Although I’m perceived as an outgoing guy, I tend to be that way too.
Abusers are the ones that put those on, but victims too, for being ashamed and showing their weaknesses.
Not just abusers and victims, Maria, but you’re right, they certainly do.
Great post. This popped into my head, thought I’d share.
I am the modren man
(secret secret I’ve got a secret)
Who hides behind a mask
(secret secret I’ve got a secret)
So no one else can see
(secret secret I’ve got a secret)
My true identity
The problem’s plain to see:
Too much technology
Machines to save our lives.
Machines dehumanize.
The time has come at last (secret secret I’ve got a secret)
To throw away this mask (secret secret I’ve got a secret)
Now everyone can see (secret secret I’ve got a secret)
My true identity…
“Kilroy”
– Styx
Excellent. Thanks, Angelo!
This is a powerful post. As someone from the younger generation, this can’t be any truer. This is why I refuse to indulge social media. It’s toxic and I strongly believe it dehumanizes us. The younger generation wants to be someone that they’re not. Originality, creativity, and pure life experiences have become a rare phenomenon.
Sad, but so it seems, Lina.