Masks Make Relationships Impossible
How many masks do you wear?
Years ago, I saved an image of a person peeling away mask after mask until only a vulnerable human being remained underneath. When I recently came across it again, I realized why it had stayed with me all these years: I recognized myself in it.
In this reflection on identity, authenticity, accountability, and faith, I explore why we hide, what it costs us to keep performing, and the freedom that comes when we stop trying to manage everyone else's perception of us. Along the way, I wrestle with a difficult question: What if the goal isn't becoming someone new, but having the courage to let ourselves be fully seen?
Because maybe masks don't just hide us from one another.
Maybe masks make relationships impossible.
Faith Without the Fix
For a long time, I thought faith meant clarity. Or peace. Or at least relief. I thought if I believed hard enough, trusted deeply enough, or prayed the right way, something would shift—my body, my circumstances, my joy. And when those things didn’t change, I quietly wondered what that said about me.
But lately, I’ve been realizing that faith isn’t always revealed through resolution. Sometimes it’s revealed through endurance. Through staying present when the situation doesn’t improve. Through choosing honesty over performance. Through continuing to believe even when life doesn’t feel good.
Lonely Doesn’t Mean Broken
Loneliness doesn’t always announce itself loudly. Sometimes it slips in quietly, even when life looks full from the outside. Full calendars. Full rooms. Full conversations. And yet, beneath all of that, there’s an ache that doesn’t quite go away. I’ve learned this week that loneliness doesn’t mean something is broken. Often, it means something has shifted—and I’m still learning how to stand where I am now.