Sometimes I feel alone. I feel as though I don’t quite know what I’m doing, and I feel as though everyone else does.
I feel as though I am inferior;
I feel as though I am not strong and I can’t beat out others who try to compete with me:
in jobs,
in relationships,
in school.
I feel as though everyone else is on top of their shit;
I feel as though everyone else doesn’t understand the face — the mask — I put up;
Even though I know they put up their own mask,
And may feel the same way I do.
In this world, no one is really alone.
No one endures the torments of the world they feel crushing down upon them,
making their anxiety rise like a title wave at high tide,
Alone.
No one does. We all feel these challenges; these insecurities; these frailties which unmask our true character — our true vulnerability — our true humanity.
To be human is to be vulnerable; is to be real.
Our society instructs us to behave certain ways: wear certain clothes, model and exhibit certain behaviours; say or not say certain things that may be interpreted as cool or not cool.
In the west we do not live in a democracy — we are held prisoners by the social confines of our industrial, materialistic and post-modern society. We judge people based upon these stereotypes that are instilled into us.
We kill people we don’t even know.
Because we are told not to even get to know them.
Because we are complicit with the fact that they should be living on the fringes of society.
Homeless people,
Addicts,
People in prison,
People who communicate, act, and look different from us.
We don’t know anyone else’s story fully.
So who are we to judge that they are lesser beings than we are?
Who are we to pass judgement on people, when we ourselves are, inside, feeling insecure and vulnerable, too?
We need to be transparent; be open; accept everyone for themselves — for their humanity.
By embracing vulnerability and encouraging each other to walk around mask-less, we can see each others’ humanity: our collective yet individual battle scars, our stories, our triumphs and our trials; things that make us human: things that make us alive.
It takes courage to remove your mask and walk around naked. It isn’t easy.
But it’s necessary. We have built up our industrial walls too high, and we are beginning to forget what the true essence of humanity is.
Connection.
Boundless love for each other as fellow humans.
Support.
We are social creatures. We can’t stop acting like it by creating divides.
No one should feel alone,
No one should feel isolated –
Because we are all together in this feeling,
In one way or another.
It’s time we started acting like it.