Every where we go
People are wearing masks
Of all shapes
Of all sizes
For their
For our
"protection"
We're told.
Yet, we have all been masked
Long before last year
Ever since children
When we were told
Or we realized
We "needed" a mask
To interact with this world
If we were to survive.
Some chose the mask of
The girl girl
The good boy
The good student
The good partner
The good mom
The good dad
The good teacher
The good citizen
The good sheep
And "they"
Others
Told us what good
Needed to look like.
Words like
Selfless
Kind and generous
Virtuous
Righteous
Philanthropist
Thrown around
For praise and validation.
Superiority.
Yet some daredevils
Took the opposite mask
(According to others)
To assert their choices
Their freedom
Their independence
Yet polarizing to the other side
The bad girl
The bad boy
The bad kid
The bad man
The bad woman
The bad mother
The bad father
The bad citizen.
And other words like
Selfish
Arrogant
Unthoughtful or uncaring
Uneducated
Thrown around
To shame these people
Attempting
to get them and others
To conform
Into submission.
Obedience
To God, King or Country
Teacher or parents
Manipulation
Of each Sovereign Beings
Inner wisdom.
An inner and outer
Polarization.
When behind
these masks
Human beings
Are diverse
Complex
Light and dark
Shadows and shades
Of all variety
Of feelings
Of needs
Of desires
Of dreams
Of beliefs
Of ideas.
And most of these
Have even been given
From the outside
From some kind of "authority"
Or some kind of message
Some kind of screen
Attempting to program
A vulnerable mind
That only if we
Do certain things
Buy certain things
Get certain things
Will we ever be loved
Ever be wanted
Ever be happy
Ever be successful
Ever satisfied
Ever be safe.
Yet all this time
It was a lie.
The mask
The narrative
The story
The choice.
We were told we had to choose
Between "good" and "bad"
Between parts of us
Therefore having to sacrifice
Very real other parts of us.
Our fullness
Our aliveness
Our richness
Our complexity.
These have all been masks
Everyone has masks
Sometimes many masks
Choices made
By an unconscious mind.
But, what will you chose now?
As you realize this sacrifice you made
Years ago
To give up your freedom?
To give up your vastness?
To conform
Or fight conformity?
Are you so black and white?
Or many colors of the rainbow?
More diverse
More complex
That you ever imagined
And more free
Than you even knew.
Are you daring enough to reclaim
The you
Behind the many masks
And choose to live
To really live
As scary
As terrifying
As it may at first seem?
To be you
To be real
To be free
To be love
Do you remember?
Who you are!
~ Aloha Jacqueline
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Photo from Unsplash by Danny Green