Throw away the masks

This time of year suddenly has me thinking about Halloween and masks. Raking leaves and twigs from a fallen tree, in the much too HOT heat of late summer and I was whisked away to Fall. In my mind flashed a Halloween party I hosted years ago where a masked person showed up and didn’t talk.

Just walked in like they knew everyone and began to mill about, not talking. Just letting everyone try to figure out who was behind the mask. It wasn’t cool. It was downright frightening. I was already sizing up the person to see if I could win in a fight because I was just unnerved!

I just don’t like hiding ~ or seeing anyone else hide any parts of themselves. Living authentically isn’t always easy to do, but living behind a mask is completely daunting.

I’ve done it … I know. Not allowing others to see you, all of you, the real you takes a toll on a person.

A dear friend of mine harbors a family secret. They have an extremely dangerous version of substance abuse in their family.

He confides in me at times, but as a family, they have declared it a stroke. Medically, maybe that’s true. But it is likely the direct result of ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ kind of drinking.

It drags my heart down to know the energy and effort it must take to keep up those appearances and hide the family secret.

Every single one of us hides something, maybe it’s just an embarrassing bad habit or it’s bigger, such as porn addiction or extramarital activities.

We may try to deny what’s truly going on in life to avoid being judged, but let me assure you friends ~ if you have to hide anything from anyone, those “anyones” aren’t the people you need in your life.

The people that matter, don’t want to see the mask. They want to love the real you…good, bad, ugly and everything in between.