The Masks We Wear!

Just as we wear different clothes for different occassions and places, we also wear, consciously or unconsciously, different face masks!

We put on different masks in our day-to-day lives. At home we wear the mask of a husband, wife, parent, friend, etc and while outside we wear the mask of an employee, boss, colleague, teacher, etc.

We wear the masks to navigate in the society. Gradually, we pretend to be what other people expect us to be.

Why do we do this? Because we want to show the world a certain version of ourselves that may not be exactly who we really are. We want to present to the public a carefully crafted false version of ourselves in order to hide our true thoughts and feelings.

When we are members of a community and share a common identity then we put on a different mask. This community could be a virtual one (like a WhatsApp group) or a real one (like a political party).

When individuals come together in a group, a 'group mind' or a 'collective consciousness' is created by the mutual exchange of ideas and notions. Guided by the 'group mind', we show a different type of behaviour than when we are alone.

Unfortunately, many of us today have become part of such communities and we get manipulated by the 'group mind'. And in the process we forfeit our ability of independent thinking.