Odd Thoughts: A Collection of Quick Reads

Pay Attention

 I spend a lot of time hiding behind a mask. People can't see it though. They're tricked easily like that.

It sounds bad to say it's that easily, but I know it's true. I've seen it so many times it's almost horrible. So many people have painted a grin on there face, and the people in their lives don't question. They ignore the heavy sighs and lingering silence that follows when they try to talk to their friends because they see them smiling. That's supposed to mean it's all okay. So, they pretend to smile too, and they think it's okay. 

 When their bodies begin to crumble, and their smiles slip, they make acts to trick the people they love. They were intricate masks and tell beautiful lies, so no body can hear it when their voice is broken, or hands are shaking gently. It works, because they're smiling. Their friends don't notice. They think it's okay. You must watch their eyes, listen to them closely. 

We train ourselves to act like nothing is wrong, but no mask we make can be perfect. You need to find the cracks in our performances and look past the mask we resurrect to hide our pain. You need to be the person we can't fool, because behind our painted faces there are a million tears painting our cheeks with our misery. Thousands of voices echo our doubts and fear, a demon to each singing how our existence is useless and insignificant. Be the person who will recognize us when we take off our mask and wipe away the sorrow that stains our skin. Be the voice that booms among the deafening snarls that roar from our demons and soothes our infliction. We can't tell you that we're broken because the black that fills our chest chokes our words and stills our hands. We are helpless to our own minds. You have to peer past what you see and find that we are nothing but actors.