My mask is my shyness. It is sometimes frustrating to feel like two different people, with two completely different personalities. At home or with close friends, I am normally the one who can’t keep her mouth shut—I ramble on and on about whatever pops into my mind. However, most times I venture outside of my comfort zone and interact with people I don’t really know, shyness acts like a mask, impeding others from seeing who I really am. Masks are made to cover faces—my shyness covers my personality. It’s a mask that keeps me from loosening up and starting a casual conversation, from thinking about possible icebreakers, and from speaking up when I’m with a group of people I have just met.
Some people wear masks willingly because they want to hide some aspect of themselves. This is not my case. I would happily get completely rid of my mask if I could, but I have discovered that shyness is an inherent part of my personality. I know that I will never be that type of person who can approach absolutely anyone and be a friend within ten minutes. My best friends are those who have seen beyond the mask, who didn’t think I was boring or stuck-up when they first met the quiet version of me. However, this doesn’t mean that I am 100% content with my personality. There are, of course, a couple of things that I am willing to tweak to become a more outgoing person. When I was ten, I read Billie Jean King’s autobiography, and there is one sentence that has stayed in my mind for the past eight years. She wrote, “Every day, do something that scares you…” Ever since I read the book, I have actually tried to follow this little piece of advice. For me, that scary something normally involves beating my shyness, making my mask weaker and weaker.
