We Wear the Mask
By Paul Laurence Dunbar
We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,— This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties. Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask!
We live in a world full of personas, where none are real. A world where every smile given, every word uttered is one that's hidden away from the truth. A world where our society builds our persona, the image we hold, but rarely it's one that we hold close to our hearts. What is humanity, when we live by society's standards, not of our own human values? What amounts to how much value a human has when power, money, and status define it all? Aren't we all mere human beings? Born to live in this shared world? Our heritage, our culture, and our race, these individual aspects that speak our identity, does it mean nothing at all? A mask that's holding a smile, I want none of it, unless it is not of guile. I desire one that speaks me, one that speaks of the word "happiness", without the expense of deceiving others.
Why should we hide away our tears and sighs, when we have the right to express how we feel? We live in a society where "masks" are the norm, and a glimpse of weakness will be preyed upon. How unfortunate for those that live by that, hiding away from the light, living by what is right for others, not for themselves.
Expressing our emotions is not weak. This is a STRENGTH.
It allows us to be seen by our true identity, "Humans". We are allowed to be happy, sad, angry, and so on. Why restrict ourselves to just being happy? To be truly happy, we have to experience what accounts for being sad, or angry. That allows us to be grateful and appreciate the little things in life.
Are we truly happy?
What is happiness?
Most wouldn't be able to answer these questions, because our minds have been "programmed" to "be happy" even though we are hurting inside. We should normalize shedding tears, and sharing our stories of how we fall and subsequently how we rise. Establishing an unofficial "Human Library" where we share our stories with the world and live by the inspirations instead of imitations.