Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Masquerade

My favorite holiday is Halloween. Always has been. I love the idea of dressing up and becoming someone else. For the same reason, I'm a Ren Fest junkie. Any excuse to put on a costume or a mask, and I'm in! Interacting with other people (who don't know me) as a Renaissance lady, a gypsy fortune teller, a witch, or whatever, holds a special charm for me.

I have always dreamed of attending a masquerade ball... wearing a beautiful dress and dancing with mysterious partners. Hmmm, maybe one day.

Even when I'm not playing dress-up, I find myself wearing a mask of sorts. I very rarely share my true feelings with anyone - preferring to act as if life is normal, hunky-dory even, when all hell might be breaking loose around me. Okay, maybe that's a little extreme. But I do tend to tell people that I'm fine, when I have a multitude of worries nagging at me. Over time, I guess I have learned that people really don't want to hear about your troubles when they ask "how it's going". They're just making polite conversation. (If you've ever had anyone respond to that question with a laundry list of all their problems, you know exactly what I'm talking about.) So I just smile, and say all is well.

So, what about you? As you are dancing with each new partner at the masquerade ball of life, do you "tell all" or do you just adjust your mask and smile?