“Halloween reminds us of the illusions we all live in and participate in every day. Halloween began as a pagan holiday to celebrate the beginning of winter. As the leaves changed colors and fell; the landscape appeared to die. Celtic people believed that wearing masks and costumes would be a way to protect them from ghosts and evil spirits causing this death and destruction.

The Japanese say you have three faces. The first face, you show to the world. The second face, you show to your close friends and family. The third face, you never show anyone. The third is the truest reflection of who you are.

We all wear costumes today, in the same way, to protect ourselves. As our environment changes, like chameleons we adapt and modify our appearance. We may project a different version of ourselves at work and be someone totally different at home.

In time, we understand how dangerous a mask can be. Character is a learned behavior. What we practice long enough, we get very good at. In time we can no longer remove the mask, without removing some of our own skin in the process. If you are not careful, someone might fall in love with that mask, and then what? You a forced to wear it and live a falsehood forever to keep them.

Wearing a mask can be exhausting. Pretending to be someone you are not, “faking it,” takes up so much vital energy. Every time you put on that mask; you lose a little bit of your true self. In time, if you wear it long enough, you forget who you truly are and become who you are pretending to be.

Even the human face is, after all, nothing more than a mask. We are all actors; that forced smile, that deep sigh, all meant to project emotions of ourselves onto that silver screen, that becomes the script for our character in the movie of our lives.” – David Scott

Behind every mask there is a face, and behind that a story. – Marty Rubin

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

“About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.” —Rita Mae Brown

“If you really love someone, you don’t want to change them, molding them into who you think they should be. Instead you will seek to help them find the best version of themselves.” – David Scott

The world is full of monsters with friendly faces and angels full of scars.

“Why struggle to open a door between us when the whole wall is an illusion?” – Rumi.

“Love is the capacity to take care, to protect, to nourish. If you are not capable of generating that kind of energy toward yourself — if you are not capable of taking care of yourself, of nourishing yourself, of protecting yourself — it is very difficult to take care of another person.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

Worry often gives small things a big shadow.

“The person who insists on seeing with perfect clarity before they decide, never decides. To end in certainty we must first begin with doubt.” – David Scott

“When nothing is for sure, nothing is impossible.”

“A scar is proof that healing has occurred.”

“Take risk… If you win you will be happy, if you lose you will be wise.”

“The greater the obstacle, to more joy is attained by overcoming it.”

“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.” – Maya Angelou

“As a rule, what is out of sight disturbs men’s mind more seriously than what they see.” Julius Caesar

“It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.”

“If you focus on the hurt, you will continue to suffer, if you focus on the lesson, your will continue to grow.”

“We run all the time to avoid coming face to face with ourselves.”

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment. Lao Tzu

“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” Raymond Lindquist

“Courage is more than standing for firm conviction, it includes the risk of questioning it.” Julian Gordon

“What you seek is seeking you.” – Rumi

“The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand. They are moments when we touch one another.” – Jack Kornfield

Happiness is like a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne