Masks and Mirrors

Looking in the mirror, I saw all the masks I was wearing. Some were newer, some had traveled the years with me, maybe even lifetimes. What were these masks? Where did they come from?

These masks were my perceptions, my illusions of self, painted by my mind and my ego and they were how I wanted to see myself, or how I wanted the world to see me. They all started with the idea of protection, but then over time, fear takes away the courage to rip them away and stand before the mirror unmasked, naked....free.

We all have them. These masks that show the world what we want them to see. We wear them at work, at church, with friends, family... Facebook is the biggest projection of a mask I know of. A true painting of what we want the world to see.

Actually, beyond having masks for others, I feel that the biggest reason for having masks was to hide myself from me.

But beyond peeling away the masks, there is another fail safe. Being an introvert and shutting out others was a way of not facing the mirror. It was another way of putting on masks and living in my head.

Living in my head. Yes, I admit I do this.

I have no judgment of any of this, I don't feel some calling to cleanse the world of masks right now. I enjoy the theater.

This inspiration for me to look at masks and mirrors again arose out of a meditation I had that was showing me my ways I was still hiding from an even bigger mirror....the mirror of others.

In my meditation I saw a powerful image of me standing before many, and looking into their eyes, what do they see, and what do I see that they see. What are they mirroring back to me?

I realized I have been still hiding away, locked in my house, in my head...with a limited interaction with the mirror of the world around me. In balance this is a good thing. It gives us time to recuperate and recharge, but done too much...it can be a crutch.

The journey of self is about taking off the masks and knowing its ok to grab one from time to time so long and we remember it's a mask. It is a healing process and one I would call coming into balance with self. I have lovingly thanked each mask I removed as it showed me the reason for its creation. This is all part of the process of letting go. And in some ways, it is kind of like growing up and taking more conscious responsibility for actions since masks are the trigger buttons for our reacting to life.

My experience in doing this is that my mirror has grown in my awareness. Now it is not something that is tucked away in meditations or on my bathroom wall. Making the choice to be the observer of myself, my mirror has grown to be the size of the world. And people are the key.

The more I see people around me as mirrors of me....the more of me I see. 

The smudges show up pretty quickly if you are willing to look. 

As some would say... be the screen and not the sponge, let things pass on through, don't hold onto things, don't beat up the mirror for the smudge that's on your face.

And just like the masks, the reactions and emotions are jewels to ask "what are you here for, how are you helping me?"

I was offered the image asking if I was ready to look at a bigger mirror. That's all. A choice for growth and expansion. In Human Design, many of my gates are about cycles and sharing knowledge. This has really helped me to understand the benefit of the ups and downs in me. Just like any other cycles in the universe, we have our own rhythms and masks and mirrors is just one of them.

Masks and mirrors, mirrors and masks....interesting to look at, but they are not me.

xoxo...Becca