Which Mask Are You Wearing?

One of the hottest items in demand now, aside from toilet paper, is the N-95 mask.  Now I have a box of these in my barn that I bought last year.  I use them when I’m mowing my eight acres with the zero-turn mower.  It’s a necessity.  Before using the mask, I’d cough up all sorts of dust, and, in one memorable moment, blew a small rock out of my nose.

But people need the N-95 today to protect them against COVID-19.  In this case, the mask is a lifesaver.

There are other masks we put on though.  We’ve been doing this long before we even knew about COVID-19.  We put on the mask when we walked into work.   A smiling face when we really hated our job and didn’t want to be there.  We put on the mask before walking into church on Sunday, right after a raucous argument with our spouse in the car as we pulled into the parking lot.  We donned the mask after receiving that gift for Christmas that we really didn’t like but pretended that we did.

Now that most of us have upended routines, we are no longer wearing the mask.  It doesn’t help that for most, we are working at home, if we’re working at all.  Some of us are sharing our workday with kids and even aging parents.  The chores still need to get done and yet nobody can get out and blow off steam.  It was the structure we had before that enabled us to put on the mask and get through.  Now, it’s like we really don’t care anymore.

It’s ok.  Nothing makes sense anymore, but when this COVID thing is done and we get to a new normal, how will people look at you?  How will they react to you?  How will the respond to you?

It’s important to look at what life will be like on the other side of the virus.  Those of us who survive both physically, economically, and emotionally will move on in some form.  What will the state of our relationships be?  Will we have invested into them during this time with enough effort that they will be strong on the other side?  Have we owned what’s under that mask we no longer feel like wearing?  Can we go back to a balanced approach of using that mask again when it’s appropriate.

I know we’re all in survival mode.  But we won’t be able to stay here long term.  Think about how to slowly bring the authentic you, the one under the mask, into your everyday persona.  This is a good opportunity to meet that person.  To grow that person.  To be able to present that person in a healthy way, on a regular basis.

I’m sort of scared to explore it, but I’m willing to try.  Are you?