Tonight's soiree has led me to think about the concept of Masquerade balls, everyone is disguised until midnight when they remove their masks. Almost like a real-life Cinderella when the magic wears off. When guests are under their masks they are free to behave as they like, free to cast off their normal social constraints because until the clock strikes midnight they are mysterious and more importantly anonymous.
I love the idea of mystery and creating your own character for a few short hours. A wallflower can be a wild party girl, a shy guy can be a dashing prince. There are no normal rules. No-one knows who's behind the mask or what they're thinking.
Sometimes I think we as a society could do with a little more Masquerade in our lives. People quite literally air their dirty laundry on shows like Jeremy Kyle or put themselves under 24 hours surveillance on Big Brother in the hope of winning fame and fortune.
The same goes on amongst us normal folk too, nowadays people's everyday lives fill our social media feeds - it's become the norm to post photos of what you're having for dinner, selfies, your kids in stupid hats etc. I must be clear here, I'm not having a pop at social media, I think it's a wonderful tool of communication (and where else would I get my cute animal photo fix than from Twitter?) but I can remember a time before social oversharing.
When I was at school and college I had no idea what people outside my immediate friendship group were doing outside in their own time. If someone trusted you to tell you something about their personal lives such as an engagement, maybe a pregnancy or passed exams it was special, nowadays it's there on Facebook for all to read. You can read about Z-list celebrities' latest love trials in an instant be it through their own accounts or through Hello or Ok magazine 'exclusives'. Have you ever noticed though that these starlets are not the ones we look up to and wish to emulate? Big stars like Angelina toe the line between mystery and revelation expertly. They choose a few titbits to reveal to the world but keep everything else to themselves, make them more mysterious and alluring in the process.
I am forced to wear a mask of my own much of the time. Sadly it's not a fancy glitter and lace number! I have to wear the plain mask of a regular girl to fit in at work especially and hide that I'm not altogether there. The workplace at the moment is becoming more like a shark pool by the day, with extra chum being thrown in all the time, and I can't afford to let my mask slip.
So tonight I shall be playing the part of a normal, 27 year old girl out for a good time and a dance or two, trying to swim away from the circling teeth.
Love Jen
XxxX
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