Mask

       My friend gave me this Ace Frehley ski mask for Christmas. I’ve worn it skiing. I’ve worn it sailing. I’ve worn it whilst driving my car. I've worn it walking around my neighborhood on frigid January nights. I’ve worn it in the confines of my own home. I’m sure someday I’ll wear it in bed. But that’s another story.....
       Kids wear masks all the time. But kids do it consciously. When a kid puts a mask on, it’s a physical mask, like this one, and it’s done with complete awareness. It’s a deliberate decision. Adults wear masks all the time too. But ours our usually unconscious. Ours are often done without awareness. And ours aren’t so much physical as they are metaphysical.     
       We adults wear masks to protect ourselves, to fit in, to avoid harm, to survive. Adults dawn masks without even knowing it, and eventually, may realize that the mask has become them. The question becomes “Are you wearing the mask, or is the mask wearing you?”.
       I encourage us all to spend more time without our adult masks. To show more of who we really are, to the world at large, and especially to those we are close to and care about. If we want to wear masks as adults, let’s do it the way kids do it. That is, get a real mask, a physical mask, and put it on. And then go play.
       I do. And let me tell you, it’s freakin’ fun.

©2013 Clint Piatelli, MuscleHeart, and Red F Publishing. All rights reserved.