Masks (but not only of the Illuminati)

We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin. ~ André Berthiaume

It is certainly true that masks are an intimate and intrinsic part of who we are - as an individual, as a member of society, as an ethnicity, a religion, a nationality, or as an employee or family member or friend.??Even on social media (or, perhaps mostly on social media) we wear masks - and, clearly, the mask we wear on LinkedIn is not the mask we wear on Facebook. The “you” in one profile is likely not the “you” in all of your online profiles (nor the “you” IRL). It is a filtration, a refraction of a reflection of the core “you” that exists beneath each chosen mask. We are each the mirror of our own dreams (doff of the cap to the eminent Stephen Donaldson).

“Always within here, inside it's still me.”

Our masks become our shields and bucklers, they camouflage us to fit in (or at least so that we do not stand out in ways we do not wish to stand out): they exert our intended perception onto those around us, and they delude us into believing we are the mask, if only transiently. This is also all an aspect, a facet, an ever-increasing representation of the modern encroachment and dazzling array of individual, circumstantial “truths” subsuming any cultural or even ubiquitous truth. No truth, it seems, is universal anymore, and my truth might differ from yours but, if equanimity is to be universal (as it should be), the “truth” of one can never be overtly considered any less valid and right than the “truth” of another. For such reasons, for the avoidance of fruitless, never-ending conflict, we rely upon the doctrines of science - through which principles we might find a repeatable “truth”, one which can be rationally shared - at least to the greater extent - by all who experience its circumstance, its conditions, the well-thought out and considered ecology of its existence. That is the truth upon which we must agree to agree.

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." ~ Marcus Aurelius

And it is that subjectivity of individual truths, in what should be a universal objectivity of the truth that, whilst seemingly egalitarian and liberal, is merely shackling us in more nefarious ways as we all become imprisoned by layer upon layer of mask - and not just our own masks but buried beneath an avalanche of masks...some still in use and even those already discarded by our fellows in the devil's masquerade.

Camilla: You, sir, should unmask.

Stranger: Indeed??

Cassilda: Indeed, it’s time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.?

Stranger: I wear no mask.?

Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!?

-- The King in Yellow, Act I, Scene 2 (Robert W. Chambers)

?

Perhaps, as discussed in this Forbes article, even worse is the concept of removing a mask in public or in private (as the shield has become our skin), or wearing the wrong one in the wrong place and time - bringing your “real self” to a meeting, showing all your proclivities on a first date, picking your nose with oblivious impunity on the train, demanding to be seen even as you deny others that same courtesy. Is rigid authenticity the best way forward in all places, at all times, under all circumstances? Arguably, no...

We are all more than mere shades of grey. We are a kaleidoscope of colors across a spectrum far wider than our eyes can see - we interpret people through this great range of impressions, not by one layer alone. But, that one layer, that mask, can establish the focus and intent we place on our impressions, and can emphasize our internal biases beyond our capacity to reason around them.

So, certainly, be true to yourself, but respect the sensibilities and sensitivities of others; be cognizant of culture, or tradition and of the simple comfort of others at least as much as for yourself. Neither your masks nor “your truth” lend you authority to impinge, inflict or deny the rights and feelings of anyone else. If your truth is righteous, and we are all owners of our own truth and we are all equal to one another, the sauce for the gander must be defended as sauce for the goose too - regardless of how that goose might rankle with you.?

Often, despite our hope for the refuge of disguise, or the passive comfort of self-expression, our masks have the capacity, and maybe even the tendency, to reveal more about us than they hide… our hypocrisies and biases and our imbalanced, non-reciprocal pride and the cowardice of popular acquiescence to the loudest or most brazen or simply the most hallucinogenic self-righteous confidence…?

It is a conflict of contradiction, an unequal demand for equality, an expansive derision of the Goode farm, a cacophony of self-righteous indignation and protestation over such things as will soon be dust to the wind…

“Keep a list before your mind of those who burned with anger and resentment about something, of even the most renowned for success, misfortune, evil deeds, or any special distinction. Then ask yourself, how did that work out? Smoke and dust, the stuff of simple myth trying to be legend…" ~ Marcus Aurelius

We seek a utopia of recognition not as we are but as we wish to be seen amidst a bewilderment of unique realities…the emperor’s new clothes indeed. Would it not be of greater benefit to focus less upon the perceptions of others, and more upon your happiness amongst a seething but tenuous and transient turmoil of vapor and myth, of intemperance and ill-governed opinion???To seek to do no harm and to see no harm being done to you? To abide in the reality of your mind and act your scenes upon the stage you share with all of life such that the theatre is a harmony of existence, a moment of joy over which you have intrinsic control? It is all down to how you choose to interact with and interpret the presence of all around you in the present moment of time. And the same holds true for us all…Wear your masks knowingly and be aware that all those around you wear their own - sometimes out of volition, sometimes out of obligation, sometimes out of fear...and, sometimes, simply out of respect for you...

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” ~Marcus Aurelius

You need not agree with every crowd in which you find yourself, but you are wise to reconcile yourself as being a part of the humanity in which you stand. As Marcus Aurelius tells us, every wrongdoer has a nature not dissimilar to our own. Understand that we each have a journey, we each have a history; my shoes have walked where yours might have not, and my iceberg might yet be deeper by far. So, be respectful. Be tolerant. Be reciprocal. But, above all else, always be kind.

“…within each of our shells…all of humanity is just one Mankind.”