The Mask Speaks

I like math. I like numbers and numerical phenomena in general. I like puzzles. Word puzzles, math puzzles, logic puzzles. I like figuring things out, whether it’s a puzzle or not. I like knowing things, understanding things. I like being able to grasp difficult concepts.

I like feeling connected. I like feeling like I’m not alone in this world. That there are other people out there. But at the same time that I like being connected, I like feeling like I’m different. Unique in some way that sets me apart from the everyday crowd. Something that makes me…me.

I like doing things that scare me. I like doing new things, trying new things. I like the adrenaline rush that comes with an uncertainty of thrilling events to come. I like the deep, dark part of the lake where you can’t see the bottom. I like the curve in the path that goes off into an unseen distance. I like the sounds that you can only hear in a silent room. I like wind coming in the window of the car on a sunny day just as much as the wind going through my hair on a roller coaster. I like getting goose bumps.

I like the click of keys on an ancient keyboard. I like the feeling of writing with a really smooth pen. I like sound of colored pencils on a piece of colored construction paper. I like patterns. Shapes, letters, numbers, pictures. I like the sunset, anywhere. I like the sunrise more.

I like hiking. I like nature in general. I love the smell of a freshly cut lawn and the forest after it’s just rained. I hate mosquitoes. Bam. I like the feeling of being completely submersed in water for an extended period of time. I like taking paths I’ve never taken before.

I like that you’ve read this.

Connection

Striving to be closer to other people who exist in this world. Wanting to be completely understood by someone else. Needing a sense of security and comfort in the knowledge that there are others who feel what we feel.

When you find someone else, whether it’s a friend, a lover, or a neighbor, who thinks like you think, feels the way you feel, and can see what you see, never let them go. These people become inherently important in you life, and should be valued and cared for as such. These kinds of people will always be there for you whenever you need them, because they will know of your need.

You will often seem to share a singular consciousness with these friends, lovers, and neighbors. You will finish each others thoughts, or even preemptively start their thoughts for them. You will not have awkward silences, because their will be nothing awkward about the bond you share.

I have been lucky enough, in my short 19 years, to find a few people like this. I have come to know and love and connect with these people as I never thought I could. I have shared stories, smiles, hugs, laughs, tears, silences, beds, fights, walks, swims, runs, clothes, injuries, cookies, meals, car rides, roller blades, jokes, text messages, old movies, vacations, pictures, dances, phone calls, drinks, memories, and all-around adventures with people I am honored to call my friends.

I love all of you and am grateful for every last moment I get to spend with you.

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