Hidden

I won't lie to you. I have never felt more attractive than when I wear a mask. I don't have to worry about my crooked teeth, my acne, my large nose, or my sometimes too expressive smile. I'm able to cast aside the judgement I perceive from strangers and walk among them as another faceless passerby. There's a comfort in anonymity. I've spent the past year, calamities and all, with a strange sense of relief that while the world may be burning around me, at least I don't have to show the feelings of distraught and distrust so openly anymore.

Yet, even with the relief that comes with the concealment of my facial expression, I know that my ability to progress in necessary social skills is hampered as well. One day, I'll have to molt this tiny cocoon and enter back into the wild world full of predators waiting to feast on my insecurity. Will I be afraid to show what I've hidden from myself and others?

In the same thought, my people will be able to wander free again, free of their red tape and restraint. I know as much as I fear my own face, there are those who see me as their kin, and have a pleasant disregard for the flesh, able to peer past predilections of the primary populace. A reason to return to the real world. Yet, there will still be those who are the opposite. We live in a world of duality. There are those who love, and those who hate. Some even do both at the same time. However, the only way to find our tribe is to seek after them, even if we may encounter antagonists along the way. What if the restraint of public appearance and activity has caused most of the strife we have encountered over the past year?

As a whole, masks have become a way of hiding in plain sight. What will happen when the mandate ends, and we lose our cover? What will happen when we reintegrate into the melting pot we've been strained from? Will some remember the feeling of a passing, friendly grin? Will some be spurned to anger when grimaces are worn without regard? Are the negative expressions of our bodies necessarily a bad thing in the grand scheme? If we continue to live as anonymous others, how will our love for neighbor grow?

We have been presented with an opportunity to grow. To become something more than we were at the start of this decade. We have been given the ability to grow in love for ourselves and our appearances. If we can learn to love the face we've been given, warts and all, what will we have to fear when the time comes to shed our cloth coverings? If we learn to treat ourselves as we wish others to treat us, then our ability to love those we encounter will grow as well.

I won't lie to you. I've never liked myself more than when my emotions aren't on display to the world. I don't have to worry about treating strangers with the kindness they deserve. I'm able to cast judgement on people whom I know nothing about. There's a comfort in anonymity, but I know that while it's a comfortable existence to pretend everyone else is a faceless passerby, it is in the end, a life with less in it. Once masks have faded into the past, we'll be able to see others show the feelings of relief and rejoicing we all so greatly deserve at the end of a year of calamities.

One day, we will walk in the sun, with a revealed face, no longer needing to restrained. One day, we will have to make a choice. Did we enjoy others more when we could hide ourselves from them, or did we miss out on the feelings of a fresh encounter with no need to be hidden?