George Carlin once wrote,“let a smile be your umbrella.”

Smokey Robinson once wrote what can be regarded as an apt response, but “…if you take a good look at my face, you’ll see my smile looks out of place. If you’ll look a little bit closer it’s easy to trace the tracks of my tears.”

In masking, there is a pretense. 

 Another writer once said, that he was “ Masquerading  as a man with a reason, and his charade is the event of the season. 

Like any strong person he was told to Soldier on, “Carry on my wayward son that he would find his peace when he was done .”

And, soldier on you must.

But there is a time and season for everything.

Entire life should not be lived as a charade but in earnest and honest.

Perspective says that sometimes it’s okay to feel and emote.

 Vulnerability can be a strength.

 It is in those moments, if we but accept and allow, we learn the greatest lessons, such as how to become an advocate for others.

I know, that just as I,  there will always be someone who will need a soft place to land, whether it be in arms, words, or as Sara Bareiles croons,” a dream.”

Every creature needs a safe place, a shield from the sharp steel toe of the enemy.

 A buffer from the beleaguered attacks. 

So I want to encourage you to never be afraid to live out your season, live openly, and learn freely. 

Don’t besmirch the moments when you feel the most vulnerable, tired, sad,  or alone but own those moments and use it as an opportunity to build and to grow.

For one day you may be the student or the one in need.  It’s not a step downward or backwards. It is rather preparation for times when  you must step up to become the teacher, or the safe place for someone else who’s been where you have been.