I wear masks, and while I have temporary and shallow ones… like my namesake, I definitely can ‘have a tendency to take a joke too far’ and get stuck in living method acting… that… is really very scary.
Layer upon layer upon layer.
That said, I am really Deadpool, because I do always wear a mask… and technically did survive dying in a pool.. by not having to breathe, lol.
But yes, I wear masks. A lot. But! I am also, always, just exactly me.
Almost.
Maybe that is the ideal. To realize and be the mask you wear. To be as truly who you are, what u r, where u r, at any time?
© 2026 – SoulSequel
21 responses to “Do You Wear Masks, and Can You Escape Them?”
Mimicry is a huge chunk on the human ingredient list.
Privacy is freedom.
Security often requires diversion/obfuscation.
MAsks are often hard to see outta.
…escape? I can quit any time maaaaaaaaan!
@luftballooneyegouge
No, I am always me. Every Icon picture I have ever used was a picture of me — just me. I don’t pretend very much. I don’t like fiction, so pretending would be fiction. I don’t even wear make-up.
@ladybarbara my mom doesn’t wear makeup except for lipstick. She also does stuff to her hair to make it look fuller (like me, she has thin hair)
@ladybarbara I thought you were the poster named “Stinky”. So, you were not? I forget her handle, think it was stinkyhenry and she said “stinky” was on her birth certificate. So, you are not bahai, either? Because she was.
@five2one My birth certificate says Stinky Little Wind (and the last name of my father) , so yes, I was on SoulPancake as my real name. I was fine going by my real name. My Grandma gave me that name at birth. Being less than 3 lbs. at birth, they thought that I would not survive. Native Americans are named for an attribute. Grandma placed me in a shoebox and set me by the woodstove —- perhaps to die.
I lived. A doctor came to the house (where I was born) to put drops in my eyes and my birth was recorded. My birth mother was not able to take care of me, so my Aunt took me to raise me. As a child, “Stinky” was a cute name. However, when I became school age, a name had to found that wouldn’t get the shit kicked out of me. Mom chose “Barbara” as a nickname. It is a name I do not like, but it went on my school records. I had to change my legal name to fit my school records.
My late husband had known me in my childhood and knew that the family called me Stinky, so he called me Stinky all through the years of his life. We married when I was 45 and he continued to call me Stinky. I was quite set in enjoying my name. His last name was Henry. So, when I joined Soul Pancake, I used my real name. I loved the name dearly.
Then I met Immortal Pirate, who was going by EmeryPark on Soul Pancake. He refuses to call me Stinky. He would rather call me Lady Barbara. It is a name that makes me recoil with dislike, and even hate. But, he insists. When we signed on to Soul Sequel, Immortal Pirate insisted that I use the name given to me for school and my legal mail. I tolerate it, but do not think of it as a name that will ever draw me close to his heart. It is a name that says to me that he does not know the real me and will never be close. It is like holding me at arms length and calling me a name that sounds like a little sharp dagger used to stab me with. It is Barbara, like a barb to my soul.
@ladybarbara Yeah, I thought so. Quite used to people changing personas (dramatically). IRL. Angels. Complex personalities, and they fit into the environment they come in.
We talked a lot on SP. I do not recall what nick I used the most there, but tended to change my nick regularly.
I also tend to adapt to my environment and circumstances, not entirely unlike my Heavenly friends. Or Jim Morrison, or Andy Kaufman.
No, you have not changed, nor Emery, you were both recognizable from the beginning I came here. (Recommended to me by Angel.)
Though, you have both become very focused on politics.
@five2one When I lived in California and traveled between California and Arizona, my life and attention were wrapped up in relationship and driving long 6 & 7 hour trips between two states. I was not as focused on politics because there was no people from the left calling me names and saying I was going to hell in a handbasket of “Deplorables'”. Once I moved in with Immortal Pirate and we were together 7/24, there was not much more to talk about, other than: “Did you feed the cat?”, “Will you do a load of laundry?”, “Where are my glasses?” Politics became a more exciting topic. Then I bought Immortal Pirate an iphone and he got on facebook every minute he can. I get his attention by sending him funny memes and silly political jokes.
@ladybarbara Ah…
To others, sure, to myself, never! This is why i have discarded the mask of Christianity after really looking at what not only its effects are, but the effects of the idea of religion are for the entire world.
@Jear77 The effects of evil, lying Christianity have zero relevance to true believers of Jesus and the true message of Jesus. You have never condemned anything Jesus said, nor Jesus — but to say he did not have to die, because he could have gotten down. He could have, but he did not, to save the world.
Feel free to say how his teachings are evil, which ones, and why.
But arguing against juvenile depictions of God, and justifying false Christians does not make a valid case.
It proves me right, though: critics of Jesus who claim the false Christians are the spokespeople of Jesus are as bad as they are and promote the same message.
So you promote false Christians and their false message while denying true Christians and the true Christ — you are guilty of everything they do and say!
Stupid move if you think you will escape condemnation one day, by saying, “I did not know, how can you blame me”!
If you do not know, then do not claim false Christians and false Christ are real Christians and real Christ.
@five2one remember if god exists, he’s the one who made me; He has no one to blame but himself! Why should i or you fear a future that’s been predetermined long before either of us were born, as it’s unchangeable? It is what it is.
@Jear77 ‘Woe to the pot who says to the Potter, ‘what are you making!”…
You do not know your own future, and are being bad not trusting people who clearly know the truth.
I know you are not an idiot.
My general take is you are faking, but I tend to play along.
@five2one but this is also the potter who makes dishes for the sole purpose of breaking. Such a deity is evil.
@Jear77 “but this is also the potter who makes dishes for the sole purpose of breaking. Such a deity is evil.”
‘Appearing shrewd to the wicked,but kind to the poor in heart’.
Appearing.
Assumptions.
But, it is likely true, that those who have it well in this world, receive their reward now. While those who do not, will receive their reward in the next world. Reminding you of the parable of the ‘rich young man’.
That is fair.
You say you do not believe now, but have all that you want (though you do claim to have nothing, you certainly must really have something to so go to war with God). Therefore, in this world, you are receiving your reward now. But, in the next world, we will. And you will receive your punishment.
I think that is fair.
It is true, though, this world is not eternal, but it is also true, that this world is full of vulnerability.
@five2one i literally don’t have a pot ro piss in nor a window to throw it out of. I am homeless, living at my parents’ house. Tomorrow they could tell me leave. My computers were stolen, so can’t do my writing or correspondence on the computer. I am traveling to / from work 4 hours daily. And my situation isn’t even suffering starvation, slavery, war, abuse – physical, mental, sexual; not to mention the perils,of fire, flood, earthquake, volcano– and these types of problems exist worldwide. With a friend like that, who needs enemies?
@Jear77 So, you are blaming God for all this?
Definitely a bad situation… as for others, that is theoretical. Yes, it is an evil world, but no, that does not mean God is evil. People are responsible for that evil.
God saved the world, but you do not yet see that happening.
@five2one if he exists, if he created the evil one (satan, a fallen angel, a fellow created being)… how can he not accept responsibility for said creation? You can’t create the origin of evil… and not take the blame for it.
@Jear77 ‘tomorrow, tomorrow, there will be sunshine, tomorrow… always just a day away’…
You don’t yet see creation for what it is, though you do see the world correctly.
But, everything will change, not of this which is bad will even be remembered. This is just a baby’s cry, long forgotten by the adult.
On the eternal scheme of things, what will the finite appear as …
I think we all do to some degree, but the masks can change throughout our lives as we take on different roles. I just learned that my son has gotten in some trouble with the law, and while this is extremely saddening for me, I am wearing a mask of being positive.
@Scarlett that is a different take on it, as whether I am positive or negative, i tend to think is regardless of whatever role i am playing. Being. Shoving feelings aside like that, they tend to be there, near the surface, at least, and so see through.
But, that can depend on how good you are at playing roles. Two of my favorite examples would be jim morrison and andy kaufman, there. I mean to the… where does reality begin, and where does it end level.
With me, for instance, i notice w my friends who hold such roles, they tend to rarely laugh. F2f, anyway. And there often is pause, regardless of what is said or done. Non reactions. Regardless of how funny something may seem.
Do you find yourself able to laugh in such a time?