I have been thinking about all the masks I have worn in the past and those that I have been wearing lately.
In the past, and until relatively recently, I had a plethora of masks I used to wear.
I had masks of confidence, perfectionism, fearlessness, bravery, carelessness, strength, victim, intellectual, knowledgeable and I even had a mask of woefulness and martyrdom.
Oh, yes, I wore a lot of masks and I know there were many more, although those ones spring immediately to mind as I write this. From a very young age I learnt to wear my masks, because I needed to hide.
I suffered a terrible trauma and was controlled and manipulated from a very young age until my early 20’s and during that time I wore many masks to get me through. Some masks I was definitely shown to wear and others I simply learnt to wear through fear, shame, anger, pain, guilt, embarrassment.
Some I wore consciously...