This week is the holiday of Purim, which in some ways is similar to Halloween in that we dress up in costumes and wear masks. I believe the reason for the mask and costume, on a superficial level, is that dressing up is fun and the holiday is about fun and celebration. Yet when I take a deeper look, masks are what we wear daily when we choose to not reveal who we are. We wear masks every time we present a picture to the world that isn’t in congruence with our soul-based values.

To get vulnerable, my mask is that of confidence, happiness, and making it seem as though I have it all together. However, my true mask hides my fear of asking for help and my fear of needing anyone. In my dark periods, I have held a belief that if you really knew me, there is no way you could truly love me. The good news is, intellectually I know it’s not true. By and large I know this emotionally as well, yet if I hadn’t taken off my mask and shown myself to someone, I would have never worked through these beliefs.

Now, it’s important to know when to wear our mask and when not to. We aren’t supposed to show our most vulnerable parts to all. When we are scared, we aren’t supposed to share that with our young children and scare them in return. Imagine if I said to my young kids, “you know what– daddy doesn’t think he is lovable”. What a horrible thing that would be; it would do nothing but harm.

My question is, when and where do you think it’s appropriate to take off your mask? What should we and shouldn’t we reveal and to whom?

Our stories are ours, yet when we have families, we must take their feelings into consideration when sharing stories that will affect them.

This week, let’s choose at least one person who we are completely honest, open, vulnerable, and maskless with. There is no more loving feeling than being completely seen.

Accountability, Community, Unconditional Love

Asher

I want to remind all of you that you can hear more on my podcast, Showing Up. We have lots of amazing shows with interesting guests on a variety of personal development topics. It would be great if you could also rate 5 stars, review and subscribe to the show. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/showing-up-with-asher-gottesman/id1489856285y

Posted in Thought of the Week