I had this epiphany to write a blog post on human interactions in the covid-era when I started my new job, and I had to unravel my colleagues' personalities with half their expressions masked by their face masks.
This made me reflect on my own emotions masked by my mask, and how it may seem to another.
First and foremost, I understood that I need to speak up to be a part of the conversation because no one can read off of my expressions anymore, and I also need to be loud because I have this acoustic barrier on my face.
Quite tiresome for the tongue I must say!
It is also strange that you have got to greet someone you are crossing paths with because a smile just won’t do it anymore. If you did just smile and relied on your eyes to speak for you, misunderstandings are bound to happen. Another barricade to break away from misunderstandings!
If you are someone new that I don’t need to be acquainted with on a first-name basis, see you on the flip side, my friend!
Meeting new faces and retaining the memory of their masked faces to make sure to recognize them again is a hard task at first; it especially happens when you run into them out of their usual territory that your brain has assigned them to.
Surely, it happens the other way around too, and I have learned not to take things personally because I have the same behavioral traits.
I am happy about the fact that I can mask my displeasure, anger, and sadness behind my mask; maybe pull a goofy face or bitterly mumble after a difficult conversation under my mask.
They say that you should let your anger pass before you pass on your judgment, and I believe the mask has helped shut me up on so many occasions and stopped me from impulsively reacting with anger.
All hail the face-mask!
Sadly, I cannot entirely mask all my emotions, especially sadness.
My tears fall faster than the speed of light, and if we get to wear an eye-patch for the sequel of this pandemic, I will be able to mask my tears too!
The pandemic has become a part of our everyday life now that it has lasted longer than my relationships.
I hope you are laughing with me and not at me, but I have realized that finding humor in your hardships helps cope with the toughest of times!
Although, I believe no one has had it harder than those working in the healthcare industry, fighting for other people’s lives whilst protecting their own as well as their families.
What an emotional toil!
It has however been a sad world where we cannot reflect off of each other’s emotions as we used to before; human interaction at its rock-bottom!
© 2022 Swati Nair All rights reserved
Comments