Masks...

We all wear masks, masks defined by the roles we play and how we wish to be seen by others. But when do they stop being masks? Masks are something we can take on and off that cover what exists underneath; what truly is. Do we know what is truly underneath the masks we wear? Or do we see our masks as ourselves?

When we meet someone and say that we want them to see and know us for who we really are, do we want them to see underneath or do we want them to see us as we WISH to see ourselves (for better or worse)? This can work both ways- we could want them to see us as the wonderful person we believe ourselves to be or as the ugly person we are afraid that we are. But is that wonderful person or ugly person the true us?

I think at times others have the ability to see and know us better than we are able to know ourselves. They see through the lies and false image we present for our own benefit every day. But can anyone ever help us to see the real us? If we cannot know the real us and others can never fully know the real us, is there a real us to know? And if there is not, do we have the ability to create ourselves and form it into the ideal vision of who we want to be?

They talk about space and the ocean being the final frontiers. I don't believe that is so. I believe that our psyche and the depths of our identities are the final frontier. Even if we spend our whole lives trying to figure out who we are, both as individuals and as a species, I don't think we'll ever have a definitive answer. And even if we do, it will be gone the next moment as a new experience changes it a bit.

Does that mean that we should never try to understand who we are? I don't believe so. I think that we have to understand enough about ourselves to find the consistencies within ourselves and use those to base our identities on. We create our own stability and use it to create stability in this world for those we touch. We are the eye in the storm we call our lives. I guess in the end the best you can do is to be true to what you believe is the most accurate version of yourself you have experienced.