Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Trick or treat, where's your mask?

Given the most recent festivity that has passed us by, I was inspired to write a little about the ties that link music to our every day lives. Halloween, the one day a year people dress up and go house to house and collect candy from kind strangers who also enjoy the meaning behind the event. The one day a year people can put on a mask, and not feel stuck behind it, knowing that at the end of the night, they can just take it off. Plastic, latex and fake hair, 'remove after use'. What about the masks we wear all year long, not only the scary ones we buy at the store? The masks that consume so many of us, the ones that eventually define us. Unbreakable, irremovable...the longer a mask is worn, the harder it is to reverse its effects. We wear masks to hide our emotions and shelter ourselves from society's critics and painful insults. Everyone has just become so accustomed to being mistreated by others, that when entering a new situation, our walls are placed higher than they should be. Why does this become an automatic defense? I read a book a couple of weeks ago, titled Like Me by Chely Wright. It's a biography of her life as a country musician, and her secret 'behind the scene' endeavors in exploring her sexuality (this is in no way explicit, simply to further her input and tell her story). She refused to inform people about the real her, terrified it might jeopardize her career and her life. Living in fear of people not liking her, and losing her family and friends, she persisted in what some might call a scandal, and chose to bring her secret to the grave with her, if it was the last thing she did. She prayed to God that he would remove her feelings she had towards beings of the same sex. The mask she wore was 3 inches deep and was impenetrable. I'm sure we all wear masks. Not wanting people to see what's behind them. Why? Why do we torture ourselves with this common misconception that people won't like us for our preferences, who we are or what we have done? In my last post, I stated that I was concerned about critics and was leaning more towards the con side of creating an opportunity to express myself in the public streaming world. That was me, putting on a mask. I'd rather not share my talents because I'm scared of what others may say. In life, we must learn to push through and rip off these so called masks that merely hold us back. This not only affects our daily lives and the way we view ourselves, but its also limits the extent in which we can explore the depth of our musical fantasies. Wearing a mask can cap the beauty of the essence of which you are trying to create. Not only can this hold you back financially (if you have a career in music and depend on albums to make your income), but it holds you back as a song writer. Sometimes all you need to do is take off your mask, and I promise you, you will feel so much better about yourself. An enormous weight will be lifted, and you can finally pursue your journey of you. :)

1 comment:

  1. You make some very good points. We each of us have masks that we wear, how strong they are is dependant upon the people we are with and our comfort level. It is sad when we let our masks come to define us and are unable to express our true selves.
    Looking forward to your music getting out there.

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