By Jessica Lau
This is an article dedicated to those who love and enjoy covid. Beneath the mask is freedom.
I see you if you love wearing a mask because:
You can finally not stick those makeup on your face to conceal anything you hate about yourself. Basically it feels good not to be seen.
You can finally whisper those words or have facial expressions that speak your heart. You can be true. You can whisper under your mask to define that boundary you never got the courage to define.
You can do that presentation in front of your colleagues without having to panic as much as before as the mask is almost protecting you from being seen and judged.
You secretly enjoy the fact that you cannot travel back home or cannot visit your parents at elderly home. It is difficult to admit but not having to see them brings you peace.
You can work from home so you don’t have to be around people. You don’t have to feel inferior standing next to people. You don’t have to feel anxious on what to be in social circumstances. You don’t have to entertain by being agreeable.
I see you and I feel you.
Nothing is permanent. Covid feels like forever but the “normal” will arrive some day.
Mask off.
The feeling of being unfree, powerless, anxious, helpless, lonely, exhausted and the self-loathing etc in that “normal” life may be put on hold during Covid but that doesn’t mean they are no longer part of you.
Perhaps the mask is a blessing not just because it conceals, but it is also because it opens a door for you to truly process all difficult emotions that have been hindering you to live the life you deserve.
May you know that you are always free. You are powerful in your own way. You are unique. You are beautiful. You are always enough.
Suggested further readings:
Body dysmorphia
https://www.theravive.com/therapedia/body-dysmorphic-disorder-dsm–5-300.7-(f45.22)
Social anxiety
https://www.theravive.com/therapedia/social-anxiety-disorder-(social-phobia)-dsm–5-300.23-(f40.10)
Anxiety
https://www.theravive.com/therapedia/generalized-anxiety-disorder-(gad)-dsm–5-300.02-(f41.1)
