Secret Identities

When I was young, I used to play dress-up. I would play at being someone I was not, not because I wished to mask who I was, but because there were people I aspired to imitate.

Later, I learned a bigger game of make-believe. We wear masks, we dance, the ballroom music fades into the background of the alter-ego charade, the super-hero masquerade.

Superhero's wear a mask as protection from "normal" people. But being "normal" is a myth we make up to allow society to follow civilized rule. Each individual has a unique spin on the world and how events, people, and things relate. We are all, in our own way, unique. We are 'special just like everyone else'.

Villians wear masks as well. The way we act as villians is when we gain delight at the misery of others. When we are so desperate for attention and/or affection that we put other people down in order to build up ourselves, then we are acting in a selfish role, one with little regard for others, at least in the moment. A villian cannot find lasting peace in promoting self at the cost of others...sometime the price must be paid and if you take a person's life, then your life is in forfeit. Of course, the rules can change.

Sometimes a villian will step back and realize what he/she has done and repent and change his/her ways. Sometimes a hero will do something wrong, sometimes not even on purpose and cause the death of a loved one or comrade.

When we take on a mask, we use the mask to harm or help others.
I hope any identity I take will be to help others.
However, pobody's nerfect.

So what did you think when you masked yourself in a blog?
What was your purpose?
Did you try to hide yourself on purpose? Why/why not?

I prefer to mask negative feelings and post postive things because I get tired of angsty feelings.
My aim is to encourage others and hopefully constructively deal with negative emotions along the way.
I try not to completely mask myself because, despite the fact there is one person who I hope will not read and comment on my blog, I want to be upfront and honest with people.

Once upon a time, I created an online gender ambiguous identity because I wondered if unknown people would relate to me differently. I found that to be untrue (except for those annoying spam and ads which seem to be MUCH worse for guys, imo). That experiemental online identity is now discarded and is probably being used by someone else and it was interesting, but I doubt I will ever do that again. I'm quite happy to state that I am female. =P

I have found secret identities mask names, faces, gender, age, and many more factors that I have no reason to hide at the moment. I wonder what motivates other people to put on a mask. Curiosity? Pain? A bad experience? All three of those have motivated me and quite a few others, namely fear and guilt. I would rather not remember that. So what is it? Why do you mask your identity?