~:[CH12 - Day 98]:~ Our Masks

 
~:[CH12 - Day 98]:~ Our Masks

I wonder what people thought who were walking around the area dressed up. Did it really matter though? Today I staffed AniFest. I got asked awhile back and wasn't sure if it would work out or not. Luckily, in the end, it did. It was a fun event as you saw everyone showing off their creativity and doing something that they were so invest in and loved. I've been watching a Kdrama simultaneously and it's funny how they talk about how each of them were wearing a mask hiding who they were. In this case, it's the opposite. Everyone at these cons are trying to show what they truly love and enjoy. As while the mask often tries to hide who we are, they were unapologetically showing off themselves and I loved it. In many facets of our lives, we've been forced to be someone who we truly don't see as ourselves. We hide struggles that we face and sometimes even change who we are or what we like to "fit in." The one thing I often tell students is to not let others determine what you want to and end up doing. I don't mean to say that they should find new friends, but to truly make decisions on what they want and are interested in, allowing them to take off that mask they're wearing to hide their true selves. Today, I enjoyed the company of so many who truly enjoyed cosplaying or just being among those who love it and I appreciated everyone of them. In the end, I was exhausted as we cleaned up and dragged ourselves to dinner past 10pm. Everyone looked like they were going to pass out with most of them working on site for 16 hours excluding their commutes and preps, but looking back, the sold out event ran smoothly and while there were some speed bumps, they simply slowed us down a bit before we reached the finish line. In the end, we created an event where everyone could be themselves and celebrate their passions with so many others and for that I am appreciative to be apart of it all. I hope that we all find ourselves in a place where we can take off those masks so we can all celebrate who we truly are.