Letting Down the Mask
A New Yorker writer named Jia Tolentino wrote a great piece on Elizabeth Gilbert. I was an Eat, Pray, Love fan, read her next two novels and followed her career. Apparently, in her new memoir, she takes dangerous drugs and contemplates killing her lover. Tolentino’s point seems to be that no matter how many profound revelations one chalks up, many of us (including Gilbert) are day-to-day, bringing to my mind the 12-step motto, one day at a time.
I find this kind of humility helpful. Sure, delve into spirituality. Imbibe lessons or strategies which help mortals in rising above what Eckhard Tolle calls our “pain bodies.” But realize that we’re all susceptible to the lower vibrations.
There’s a Glen Frey song off the Eagle’s first album called Most of Us are Sad:
Most of us are sad
No one lets it show
I've been shadows of myself
How was I to know?
It doesn’t help, as Frey implies, not to let it show, especially to oneself. In fact, just letting down the mask is one of the gifts of sadness.