Masquerade

It was a decent Halloween party on Fri. So was Shabu Shabu on Sat. And badminton today. It has been years since I last blew a b'day candle too, since my parents doesn't have the habit of celebrating b'day (though strangely they would want me to wish some other ppl who they are close happy b'day) to and my close friends usually have the culture of going for eatouts than a formal b'day cake (which either way i'm equally grateful of). I was also getting an influx of good wishes via hp and facebook. This was something rather unusually in the past, but then again, I wasn't all that sociable prior to army and uni life. Which brings me to reflect on a little something: Mask.

I'm not sure how many people heard this song Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera. Here's a short extract from the lyrics:

Masquerade!
Paper faces on parade . . .
Masquerade!
Hide your face,
so the world will
never find you!
Masquerade!
Every face a different shade . . .
Masquerade!
Look around -
there's another
mask behind you!

I used to be rather critical about people wearing a "mask" or hiding the truth, to the point that I get rather inquisitive, blatant and perhaps self-righteous. But I realised I've changed over the years. Perhaps it's cos I'm getting old and no longer that hot-blooded. I began to appreciate the need of putting on a "mask" at times, as a means of managing relationships with people. Everyone needs to have some kinda of a filter from the outside world, so that they dun get hurt that easily. Everyone probably have many layers of mask, but the more they are themselves to others, the more layers of "mask" they remove. The level of trust and reliant increases, with the severity of the pain should that trust be broken.

I think I've a rather thin layer of mask, considering I'm actually delving into this on a public blog. Maybe I'm a high risk taker when it comes to relationships with people? You don't wear a glove to shake hands with others, unless there's some strange medical/cultural reasons. The touch. Skin contacts are always good. Warm to the touch. Not plastic. It differentiate real person from ghosts or robots. Comparing this to wearing a "mask", it's of the same equivalent. It's more likely to get hurt, but someone have to take off their "mask" 1st before the other party can trust.

Putting on some "mask" isn't a bad thing though. It prevents relationships from deteriorating too fast, if they are not connected quick enough. Some people dun click with others immediate, so will take time. But not taking it off over time will result in a bottleneck in relationship. Nothing moves forward. Too overprotective of self will suffocate oneself. It's no wonder that people actually experience loneliness even though they live in big cities that have good communication infrastructures and transportation.