Wednesday, August 4, 2010
I read "The Magic Towel" in Storytelling Magazine, to me it isa tale of personal reflection as we age and move into the second half of life’s journey. Brief story synopsis; mother-in-law (MIL) jealous, and mean to beautiful kind hearted daughter-in-law (DIL). Magic towel makes DIL more beautiful, MIL uses towel and makes her uglier, MIL begs for help DIL feels sorry and helps, MIL grateful and good from then on.
When we are young we learn how to wear all the social and emotional masks. And with these roles come certain conventional behaviors. Psychologist Carl Jung called these social appearances the persona, from the Greek term for the masks that the ancient actors wore to identify their particular roles in a play. Jung argued that a major task of growing up, and other psychologists concurred that learning complex social roles and mastering the masks that go with them is a vital challenge for youth. This story The Magic Towel suggests that as adults we must learn to remove them and attend to inner substance.
I feel that the first half of our journey is not truly for “finding ourselves” but finding out about the world around us; and the second half is when we really begin the journey to self-awareness. It is when others begin to see us as eccentric that we are being true to our inner selves and expressing the truth beneath the surface of the masks we have donned until now.
I have worn the masks of mother, dughter, wife, employee, christian, artist, teacher and student; just to mention a few. Like all of you, I spent my youth learning and acting out the complexities that went with each mask. And although I still am all of these things I no longer wear the masks, I am learning to let go of the roles and let the inner me express freely without the constraints of my youth and society. I am free to be me... I am free to just be.
Namaste
