The Costume Ball

Spiritual growth and healing on your spiritual journey!

Subject(s): General Interest
Add to My Group

March 29, 2007 at 16:15:55

The Costume Ball

by Dan Joseph Page 1 of 2 page(s)

http://www.awakeningpath.com

Imagine that you are invited to a masquerade ball. You spend weeks choosing a costume for the event. Should you dress up as royalty? As a villain? As someone famous? As an angel?

You eventually settle on a costume, and go to the ball. There you find hundreds of other people, dressed in the widest variety of outfits. The party is all in good fun, and you play through the night in your chosen role.

Then, around midnight, a strange thing happens. Everyone in the costume ball suddenly falls asleep. When they awake, their memories have vanished. Where am I? everyone asks. And silently, they wonder: Who am I?

People look around the room, and begin to sort out the situation. Over there is someone dressed in gold finery, with a crown. She must be the queen of this place. And look at him over there – he has knives and swords. He must be dangerous. And look at that one: she looks like some sort of animal. Maybe she’s crazy.

There’s a great scramble. People flock to the "good" people, away from the "bad" ones. Some of the good people bravely begin to round up the bad ones, using the weapons at their disposal. For a while there’s a chaotic melee. Eventually, after a struggle, things settle down. The bad people are subdued, and they sit – tied together – in the middle of the room.

Then, abruptly, part of a man’s costume falls away, and a woman cries out. "Wait," she says, "I remember now. That pirate – he’s my husband. He isn’t really a pirate." The memories begin to return. "She isn’t a queen – she’s just dressed that way. And he’s no priest, I’ll tell you that."

As the costumes come off, people begin to remember their true relationships. "I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you," they say as they untie their friends and family. "Please forgive me – I forgot who you were." "I don’t know what came over me."

The party-goers shake their heads at the strange turn of events. They tear off their costumes as they walk out of the party, concerned that they might forget again.

"How easily we are fooled," remarks a man as he tosses away a mask. "A little cardboard, a little paint, and our loved ones are gone."

The Masquerade
As strange as this story sounds, it’s what happens in this world.

Each of us comes into the world without a stable human persona. Then, as we "mature," we work to "find ourselves." This usually means that we try out a variety of worldly roles, until we find one that feels comfortable.

The problem is that these roles are as flimsy as costumes at a ball. If we were to recognize this, we could have a bit of fun. But like the partygoers who fall asleep and confuse themselves with their roles, we tend to forget who we really are.

Let me give a personal example of this. When I was in college, I considered myself a "student." After that I saw myself as a spiritual seeker, and a writer. Then a businessman, a writer again, a teacher, and so on.

The problem is that a student has to study – otherwise, his identity begins to fall apart. A seeker needs to seek. A writer needs to write. A businessman needs to make money; a teacher needs students.

So there was a great deal of pressure that arose from these roles. When I was twenty-one years old, and my time in college ran out, I fell into a panic. I was a student! And there were no more classes! What would happen to my identity? It was rather terrifying.

Almost immediately, I made the shift to writing. But what happened when a writing project was done? I couldn’t exactly be a writer unless I was writing, right? I became almost manic in my pursuit of new writing projects.

1 | 2

www.DanJoseph.com

Dan Joseph has been writing about the connection between spirituality and psychology for the past ten years. He is the author of two books: "Inspired by Miracles" and "Inner Healing."

Contact Author

Contact Editor

View Other Articles by Author

Bookmark this page: (what's this?)

(More...)

No comments

Gain lion-hearted courage to shape your life in any way you choose.