Sonal Singh On Sonal's Table
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Ma, does everyone wear makeup once they grow up? Asked my eight year old; watching me apply makeup in preparation for an outing.
As I looked into her eyes, shining with innocence and naiveté, I was transported back in time to when I had been but six years old and had asked my mother a similar question. My mother had unhesitatingly replied in the negative saying, no baby! Only grown-up women wear makeup. Of course, back then she had been talking about cosmetics.
However, when my daughter asked me the same question, it made me reflect on where the human race had reached. For, have we not reached a point wherein, we are all wearing makeup? Wearing makeup to conceal our true intentions and to hide behind layers of deception in order to mask our true persona? Are we not today unable to wear our emotions on our sleeve for fear of being ridiculed? Do we not wear indifference as a cloak and masquerade a bravado that we rarely feel? Do we not screen every bit of information received for hidden meanings? Are we not constantly trying to read between the lines? Are we today, not suspicious of random acts of kindness?
Although, I answered my child in much the same vein as my mother had answered me, yet, for a moment I had been tempted to answer her in the affirmative. I had been tempted to introduce her to the harsh reality of life which makes us insecure as we grow up. It makes us insecure to the point wherein we all sink into the mire of lies and deceit; and from wherein we start deriving our chief comfort. It makes us start to mask our true emotions and makes us cloak purity in layers of concealment.
I wonder would it be so difficult to learn to trust once again in the simple things that life has to offer. Would it be so difficult now to accept a helping hand or respond to a warm smile or assist a stranger in distress, every once in a while?
What would it take? Let’s evaluate. It would probably take opening our heart not just to love and warmth but also to spontaneity and spunk. It would probably take indulging in another’s joy and partaking in another’s sorrow. It would definitely take being more trustful and less suspicious of others’ intentions. More than anything else, it would take changing ourselves; changing ourselves to become more receptive. More receptive to the goodness that life has to offer. It would also take adapting ourselves to the changes that occur lest we endanger our changes to extinction.
However, the question still remains – can we do it?
Image – DANNY G via unsplash
