Recently, I had to introduce myself at a company function. What caught me off guard was one of the introductory items. Of course there was name and job title as part of the introduction, but the one that caught me off guard was: “What is your role?”
“Our role in what?” someone asked as we were getting ready to get started.
“Oh,” the facilitator paused, “well, in everything.”
It was at that moment that my expectations were confirmed of a week-long dive into these sorts of self-reflective questions and understanding where we fit. This group had a lot of similar roles: spouses, parents, siblings, offspring, but there were some variations: connector, listener, decider, and so on, as we began to think of our roles outside of our familial units. We Jedi are no different.
I tell this story because it’s interesting to ponder our roles in everything and with Halloween coming up, a holiday where the donning of masks were common. I figured it would make sense to talk about it.
We, for better or worse, put on masks. I don’t think, like in everything, it is inherently wrong. As Jedi we strive to be our most authentic selves, but I can only speak for myself when I say: I could not let my authentic self come out when I was working in customer service. Anyone who works in service knows the “service voice.”
As an instructor, I had to put on a mask to help facilitate the learning of my students. It sets the tone of what our interaction should be: professional, open communication, and creating a positive learning environment.
Masks can also be used unethically as well. Have you seen or experienced “love bombing” in a relationship where someone puts on a mask to charm or manipulate a person only to take the mask off later and their real self comes to the surface? How about a salesman that is deceptive about their goods? The examples can be numerous.
Teaching 9 says: “The Jedi maintain integrity, our individuated wholeness. We practise to foster the awareness of our interconnection with all other phenomena, thus ensuring authenticity in our interactions with others and our capacity to accept our limitations and those in interaction with us.”
Awareness is key. Social awareness can be a difficult skill to build, but it’s usefulness to a Jedi cannot be understated. As I said before, putting on masks aren’t inherently negative. However, it becomes a negative when we use it to lie, mislead, manipulate, or otherwise exploit others.
As we move through our day, let us be keenly aware of the masks that we wear. Let us examine them for their usefulness and their purpose. This will help us learn to recognize our own limitations and find clarity in our interactions with others.
