Undertones.

There's an interesting phenomenon (if that's the right word) that you experience sometimes. It's when you're sad, but still enjoying yourself.

Now, to some people, this may be seen as impossible. Personally, I think it depends on the type of sadness. But most of the time, I think that you can be sad, and yet still actually enjoy something - not just pretend to enjoy something, and putting that mask on.

Why I think that's true is because of focus. It's all down to where your focus is. For example, if I'm playing a game with some friends, and that's what I'm focussing on, I'm enjoying myself. And that's a true enjoyment. However, if I'm instead focussing on something that makes me sad - say, for example, someone that recently passed away - but I'm trying to cover that up, then that isn't true. That's where the mask comes in.

And yes, it's very easy to slip from one to the other. Your attention can slip for a moment, and you're gone. But in that moment, you also have that choice - that choice to be authentic, or to put that mask on. And sometimes that will depend on who you're with as to the choice you make; but it's always your choice, even if it's become almost automatic.

We can often have these undertones working away, these undercurrents of sadness, and pain, and loss. And they might not show a lot of the time; we might even forget them, more often than not. But they're always there, constantly, and they're very easy to slip back into if we don't have enough distractions, diversions and focus.

How do we change that? That's a darn good question. Let me know if you figure it out.