I’ve been starting to open my mind to changing my ideas about masking. A lot of them come from my sister who struggled very heavily with wanting to appear like everyone else and not stand out, so I’m biased based on experience.
At the same time, I recognize that forcing or pressuring people into masking when they don’t understand why would be traumatic to them and ultimately do the opposite of what is intended.
I feel like unmasking should be done in private or around people who will understand it. Unmasking could in theory be done all the time, but not everyone would understand it.
What’s your position on it? Do you mask in public but not in private or around only people who understand it?
I want to work on being more accepting and I have feelings in both directions.
My special interests are very special to me (ugh, what a terrible pun. Defo not intended!) and I reserve sharing them for people I trust. That alone is a reason for me to mask.
It’s actually harder for me not to mask than it is to mask a lot of the time, even though my mask is far from perfect. But I’m “out” at work and it’s fine if people realize I’m masking.
I think for me donning the mask is like donning armor to protect things I care about from a majorly uncaring world, and if I unmask around you it’s a sign of trust.