Masks. A lot of them. What we all wear.
A few days ago, I jotted down a rough paragraph to write this from. It was inspired by something I noticed a while ago that I will explain after the paragraph;
"What is appearance? It is a representation of who we are; but then anyone who sees us judges us on that, and may interpret what they see as something entirely different from what the person intended; and who that person really is. It is because we all see things differently. We see a person with a flaw, and our attention is caught by that flaw. We may even be more apprehensive about approaching that person. There is much truth to the idea that appearance may be a barrier between people."
I jotted down the above paragraph after contemplating some people in my past, and others' pasts that I have heard about. I was surprised to realise, a while ago, that a few people I have become friends with in the past are people who, prior to meeting them, I have observed with negative judgement (I admit to this even though it's very shallow of me.. sometimes I have trouble talking to, or even trusting, people because of how they appear - too many horror movies? :P). The friendships I've formed with these people, and what I have learned about them and their histories, has taught me that appearance, even that which we create ourselves, can be considerably deceptive.
Of course, the problem may simply be that other people are perceiving our appearance differently to how it is intended, as I suggested above.
I suppose a good example of this would be any character in a movie or TV show, and the actor playing them. It's sometimes very surprising for some people to learn that an actor is different from their character (I could even go so far as to say it's sometimes surprising that an actor ISN'T their character, no matter how much we'd wish them to be so; how many movie couples have audiences wished would get married in real life?). Do people act in every day life, perhaps hiding various parts of their personality for fear of judgement? Are we all trapped within the bars of social expectations? (Just to get deep ;)).
Of course, the (sometimes) difference with actors is that they intentionally deceive the public into believing the character they play is an existing person (although it can be slightly disappointing when we realise the actor isn't, in fact, the character they portray.
I hope this wouldn't be the case in real life though; it is sad, and a bad reflection on society, when people fear revealing their true selves. Not to sound totally cliche and corny (although I know I'm going to anyway), but individuality / uniqueness should be cherished. That's how half of our entertainers came to the point where viewers smile and feel excitement simply upon hearing their name or seeing their face. It seems to be a common story in the entertainment industry that many successful actors / actresses / musicians etc had difficult childhoods and youths.
So, really, be nice to everyone, it may be the least likely person that you see that could be the person you are luckiest to meet ;)
