Stop Wearing Your Mask and Start Offering Your Authentic Self

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Every day, as we go out into our lives, our jobs, the world around us – we wear masks, costumes – a protective barrier. How often though, do we show our truth to the world around us? It’s time to stop wearing your mask and make real connections.

It takes a lot of bravery to expose ourselves, to be raw, bare, real, and maybe even different.

But when we masquerade and don’t show up – I mean truly show up – all that happens is we end up looking like two-dimensional images. Pages ripped from magazines, all glossy and photoshopped.

How Can We Be Real – Really Real? – When We Wear Masks?

It is easy to get all caught up in fear. It can paralyze you and freeze you in your tracks. Your skin becomes the disguise. We walk around in camouflage, blending in, not wanting to be seen or heard. Don’t make eye contact, don’t even smile, or say hello!

When did we start cloaking ourselves so that we walk by one another as if we are all invisible? Maybe things have gotten so bad in the world today because we don’t take our costumes off. We see only what others show us or what we assume when we glance at them.

That becomes our gauge, and our perceived reality, when in actuality we don’t even know who they are!

When did being friendly become a danger?

If we all dropped our protective barriers, we would see that we are all human beings, living a human existence.

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.” -Jim Morrison

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are.

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are.

Stop Wearing Your Mask & Share All Parts of You

It is frightening to show people who you really are. What if they don’t ‘like’ what you show? Well, then show someone else and someone after that and so on until you find the people – the tribe – that love and accept you without the facade and window dressing.

Trust me, we are out here looking!
Be brave and smile with all parts of you. It can make a big difference in your day-to-day connections with everyone that you meet.

The only way through the hatred that often infiltrates our world is to conquer it with love.

The only way through the hatred that often infiltrates our world is to conquer it with love.

Try it and just see what happens! Next time you are on the subway, strike up a conversation, or talk to the cashier, or your mail carrier or the bank teller. Ask them a question and show them you are listening and present to hear what they have to say and see what they have to show you.

Be brave and be the love you wish to see!

Want more self-love inspiration? Check out Why I Practice Yoga With My Hair Down (And Why You Should Too)