Why do we hide our Feelings?
Have you ever stopped to wonder why we go to such lengths to hide our feelings?
We use all sorts of ploys and subterfuges to try to hide how we truly feel.
We control our facial expressions; we hide our hands behind our backs and we change our voices. In short, we will try anything to conceal any gesture that could possibly suggest how we really feel.
And so we laugh when we feel embarrassed. We pretend indifference when we are moved. We hide our tears when we are sad. And we even smile when we are hopping mad!
The face behind the Mask
We’re all so scared of being ridiculed or humiliated that saving face has become an end in itself. Image is so important that we have to protect it all costs.
Why do we feel it necessary to hide our feelings behind a mask of indifference? What is it that makes us want to pretend?
Isn’t it possible that the real problem with showing our emotions is that it could make us seem vulnerable?
And so, if we are feeling an emotion – any emotion at all, we disguise it in case it reveals sensitivity or vulnerability. Because we often mistake vulnerability for weakness.
Strange that we are all so bent on hiding the sensitivity that reveals our humanity. After all, aren’t our feelings the very things that make us truly human?
Some feelings are impossible to hide!
Fear plays a big part in how we approach life. We don’t like to be made fun of or humiliated but I think it goes much deeper than that. Social media now plays a huge role in our lives and one mistake and the whole world knows about it. The idea is to show the world what we want to be, not the person we. Insecurity, anonymity, and low self-esteem is the mask of choice.
We can go through life without ever letting anyone see the real us but by that time it’s too late. we become too vulnerable based on past hurts and the pain is too much to handle. It seems it is better to act the part instead of being the part.
Finally, intimacy is not something society pushes. Many young people spend so much time alone in front of a computer they have no people skills. They make up a personality and hope no one sees the real person inside.
Relationships take time, energy and emotional input and hiding behind a mask allows people to overcome their fears without really getting involved.
I would hope that technology would help bring us closer together but it seems to have had the opposite effect. Its pushing us too far away and we can’t cope with the loneliness.