The Path of Thorns

I’ve spent the past few weeks deciding on a topic here.  There’s so much that flows through my mind, so many things I’m passionate about and curious about.  I’ve wanted to balance that to what my readers may enjoy and want to discuss or think about themselves.

In the end, your best bet in beginning your writing career is to only worry about what interests you, and let your mind form your ideas, arguments and compositions along the way.

I begin my blog with a thought I’ve had in my head for a long time.  It’s a very humanistic fault, or strength, or habit – the descriptive word can be among many.  It’s something everyone does – it’s something I do to a point – and it causes many results and effects as a reaction. 

That is, we all put on a mask, to a point.  We all mold ourselves to be accepted and open to a specific point; honest to a specific point; unyielding to relate and give particular information or giveaways about ourselves.  Humans aren’t really all that different; our intelligence, comprehensions and social interactions and reactions are a few of the vast differences humans can have with each other – a lot of our differences can be placed into those few categories. 

So why a mask?  Why don’t we all just accept that we’re the same race, out to persevere, gain a wanted amount of power and enhance our selfish (or unselfish for those we love) ways?  I knew I was right when I told myself to just put words down and go with the flow with this blog – this post can easily be broken down into several, and I may do just that.

For the sake of unilateral thought and conversation (I’ll remind you all I’m severely ADD!), I’ll stick to the more social side of this ‘mask’ we all have. 

Let’s say you’re at work.  Your co-worker is clearly going through something troubling – it could be financial, or work-related, or it could be a heartbreak or bad fight they had with someone.  Either way, you have no idea what it is, and it’s upsetting you as well.  For argument’s sake, we’ll say you’re not very personal with this co-worker.  This co-worker has the ‘mask’ on – one that allows them to still be professional and courteous at work, but you’re the careful observer and you see through the mask to the distress on their facial expressions.

Clearly, the awkward and generally unacceptable thing to do would be to take the co-worker aside for a moment and see what’s wrong, and if you can help.  Such a thing could even get the two of you in trouble at work, and your co-worker would likely be even more upset and uncomfortable.  Yet all you’re doing is try to help.  The common thing to do is to ignore it, even be wary of them, and allow the ‘mask’ to go accepted and to not dare speak of it.

We all want to be consoled in some sense during times like these.  We fight it, we have humanistic semi-artificial reactions like pride and false strength to attempt to keep the fight going, but we all want to be okay.  We all want to be heard.  We all want problems to go away however possible.  Yet we only want it from certain people; people who have known us a long time, or who may know the situation, or people who have helped us before.  Even if that person closer to you may have weaker or even incorrect advice on how to go about the problem, and this co-worker pulling you aside, for all you know, could be the Conficius in your daily life.  99.9% will never, ever open up to you, unless you’ve passed these unmarked doors to their inner selves and their hearts & minds.

The result, of course, is because we’ve all been hurt in the past, or double-crossed, or anxious to open ourselves up.  The ‘mask’ is easier – you isolate the issue to your own head, and you already know your enemies – or at least you think you do.  If you don’t take the ‘mask’ off, this co-worker can’t open you up and tear down your little wall somewhat.  Better off not risking it, you think to yourself.

I’m not advocating the troubled co-worker open up to their associate, nor keep it in.  But we all know this routine, this ‘mask’, that we feel limits the already-existing issue.  Despite the fact that we’re all so much more alike than we’d choose to admit.  Humans can hurt humans if information is given, and at least if we have the ‘mask’ on, the most we do is hurt ourselves.  Which is less severe.  Right?

Maybe.