The Mask

Every one seems to be wearing masks these days. I just had a class called Business Dynamics wherein we were talking about Corporate Masking. This is a concept where the employees put on a mask to seem desirable to the company. With the exception of a select few, this I think would agree to most of us. We are different people when we are among different people. A subordinate to the boss, a colleague to our coworkers, a friend to our friends, a child to our parents and the list is endless. The question that arises is who we really are? Are we the docile subordinate, are we the affable friend who can be counted upon for any emergency, or are we an enigma, unknown to no one?
After some time of wearing the mask, how can we differentiate between who is the mask and who we are? The time that we spend in the mask becomes more and more and finally there shall come a time when we are what the mask says we are.
Is it not possible to remain who we are, to preserve our identity and live life the way that we want it to be? That requires a higher level of self integrity than humanly possible. There are a lot of restrictions that are placed on a human being by society. The demands that are placed on him require that he wears masks.
In the words of Ayn Rand “Only man is an end to himself”. It becomes the utmost duty of each man to satisfy his needs. He must learn to place himself before anything else and then will he attain what Maslow may have talked about as self actualization. May be one day we will actually see who we actually are. The day that the masks fall off, I hope that each one of us has the strength to face what we have become and that we spare a thought for what we may have become.
29.09.05