Masks

I opened my journal last night after a long time and scribbled for 15 minutes. Posting the contents here.

How I used to love writing! I always used to be proud of my handwriting, flaunting my neatly written course notes to my friends and teachers. And these days, I hardly write. It's been a long time since I heard the screeching noise of the fountain pen talking to the white paper. I realize that this noise has been completely overshadowed by the crackling keyboard and clicking mouse.

This week's Sunday Scribblings topic is Masks. This term brings to my mind the kind of masks superheroes wear all the time. I always wonder why superheroes wear them, what makes them so special. After giving quite a bit of thought, I understood the significance of masks in superhero stories.

When the superhero takes off his mask, he is none other than us. He looks exactly like us - his eyes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin are the same. But we fear the super hero in ourselves; the hero who is capable of doing extraordinary things, who can change the world, who can make a tremendous difference to himself and others. Yet, we fear to face him and end up wearing the mask of an ordinary human being - the one who sticks to limits defined by others, the one who doesn't dare to think beyond the ordinary, the one who is content with what is available and not venture into distant lands beyond the horizon.

There comes a day in everyone of our lives when this mask of an ordinary person that we wear will be torn into pieces and we realize our full potential of becoming a superhero. On that day, we don't need any masks. We are ready to face the world, go beyond the horizon and realize that a superhero is present in each one of us. That day will come in our lives. All we need to do is keep our eyes wide open and watch out when the superhero is being awakened.