Masks: Help or Hinderance
I have a personal history with masks, but it has nothing to do with health risks. I grew up in the theatre. It was my major in college and still something that I pursue to this day. There was a time in college when I was in a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where all the fairies were wearing masks cast from molds of their own faces. I learned a lot about masks that year. Masks are used to cover something up; with theatre, it’s all facial expressions. You have to learn how to act and convey emotions using only your body. With COVID-19, we are covering our mouths to lessen the possibilities of spreading germs, but what else are we covering up?
A few days ago, a friend mentioned that she wished life would go back to normal so people in the stores would start being nice to one another. I have had the same experience. I feel like everyone cowers away from any human interaction. They are afraid to make eye contact or to speak a word near anyone. It’s like we are treating the rest of society as lepers. Why does a virus have to effect our manners or the way that we speak to one another? Are we showing our true masks when hiding behind cotton? Some people wear masks everyday, and I don’t mean with fabric or plastic. We hide behind smiles and laughs when we are hurting deeply inside. We bring up a protective shield with the utterance “I’m fine” so that we keep from really letting the walls down to express what is actually happening in our lives.
I think it’s time these masks get thrown in the trash. I don’t mean that we should violate safety protocols and ignore recommendations from the CDC. I am talking about laying down the mask that you wear everyday as a cover up for who you truly are. Let someone into your bubble and talk about what is really going on in your life. Take a chance, be a rebel, let your guard down and for goodness sake, be nice to people when buying your groceries.
Written by Sharla Ball
