A few weeks ago here in Hong Kong we enjoyed Mid Autumn Festival when traditionally family and friends come together outdoors to celebrate the harvest during the autumn full moon … and eat moon cakes!
Tomorrow there will be another autumn festival – Halloween. Growing up in Scotland, what I remember about Halloween is bonfires, turnip lanterns, ‘dooking’ for apples, and the beginning of winter. These days, the focus seems to be on people gathering together, dressing up in costumes and masks, and eating sweet treats.
The question perhaps is … in your everyday life what masks do you wear? How do you like to see yourself? How do you want to be seen by others? Do you like to play the role of care-taker, achiever, know-it-all, entertainer, something else? Do you mask your insecurities through people-pleasing, rescuing, perfectionism, control-orientated behaviours…? Perhaps you look at yourself through your partner’s eyes and try to be who they want you to be?
How we see our self is not necessarily the truth of who we are.
To get to the truth of who we are, we need to let go of the image we have of our self and peel away the layers (cleanse and polish) and accept all of who we are, not just those parts we like.
The gift of accepting all of our facets is that once we do this, it’s easier to accept others, and through accepting others we find harmony within ourself.
What do you choose? Are you ready to let go of your masks? We are not born with masks, we can take them off!