People wear masks for all types of reasons (and I’m not talking about Halloween masks here). To be deceitful, to protect themselves, to attack others anonymously. There are other more subtle masks that aren’t necessarily about hiding, but are a sort of compartmentalization of our different selves.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw my father in work mode. I was a little kid and for some reason was present when he was talking business. His voice was different and he had a whole new body language I’d never seen before. At the time it was so weird to see him that way, but it gave me another insight into the person he is and the many parts of him. On the eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C. my classmates and I got to see a different side of our teachers when they danced along with us at a pizza party. We saw the people behind the teachers.
For me, there’s my author mask that I wear when I’m at an author event and there’s my parenting mask for when I’m at story time or my son’s school. I even use a different name for my writing vs. my family life. These masks are so complete that they border on different personas, though they certainly can intersect at times. Then there are the million other sides of me that aren’t as consuming as the writer or parent me. I have a mask for each one, each mask is as much a part of me as any other, and all together the make the whole of me (which I suppose is the maskless me…or maybe the me of many masks!).
What kind of masks do you wear?
#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Katie L. Carroll, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (October is all about masks), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs or on your social media page. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.
