Remember when you were a little kid, and you would always want to play pretend? You would imagine that you were a robot princess ruling over dinosaurs, or even a space cowboy helping out the Avengers. Better yet, you pretended to be Batman. All of these ideas sound silly now, don't they? None of those things are happening in real life, so why bother pretending that they are? Now we play pretend in a completely different way. We pretend that we're happy. We pretend that we've got life together and are doing great. So why do we pretend when those things aren't really happening either?
Ever heard the saying, "We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like"? Sadly, this rings true in our society today - I've even done this myself. I've bought clothes or or things that I didn't really even need because I thought it would make me look better to people I didn't even know or like. Our society is so appearance driven, we often forget why we even care about what we look like to others. We're always worried about the next big thing coming out or the next fashion collection coming soon. I think we hope that in buying nice things, we can hide the fact that we feel empty and broken inside. We can buy the world, but still be unhappy.
I don't think we ever stopped playing pretend, we just pretended to be something else. Instead of pretending to be a dinosaur or a superhero, we pretend to be happy. It's like we get up every morning, and look at a wall of masks to choose from. What shall I be today? I think I'll be excited for some upcoming event even though I'm dreading it. I think we play pretend with our emotions the most, because it's something we don't want the real version getting out to the world. We feel the need to have it all together because we don't want to leave any loose ends hanging (which is also the topic of a previous article I wrote called, "The Illusion of Having it All Together" which you can find here).
We also play pretend with our personality. We pretend to like or be one way because we think that's what others will like to see. TV programs and movies have tirelessly worn out this archetype of boy pretends to be something he's not, girl doesn't like it, but ends up falling for the real thing below (or vice versa). Why is it that we get upset that someone else is pretending to be someone they're not when we do the exact same thing?
The answer is simple: acceptance. This all boils down to just that. We want to be accepted into society and feel like we belong. Even if that means buying a certain phone that everyone has or seeing the movie that just came out. We as humans want to be accepted into the main group and not be left out. Being accepted means not being alone, and left out to whatever it is that may decide to get us.
We live in a world where it's a constant masquerade. Everyone is wearing a different mask every day because we don't want to reveal who we truly are. It can be difficult to live in a mask - it can limit your sight and perspective of the world. Eventually, the mask is going to come off whether or not you are the one who removed it. It can be hard to be the one to take it off, but I think it's better than playing pretend for the rest of your life. Would you be willing to show someone what's underneath?
"I'm not afraid, I'm not ashamed.
I'm not to blame.
Welcome to the masquerade.
I'm not ashamed, I'm not afraid.
I'm not okay.
Welcome to the masquerade."
-Thousand Foot Krutch, "Welcome to the Masquerade"
