Nablopomo for October: Mask

So, what's the theme this month?

MASK

Whether it's as common as make-up or feigning happiness, every person spends time wearing a figurative mask, concealing features, thoughts, or feelings.

This month we're taking off our masks and laying bare the truth beneath: how we feel about growing older (and whether you'd ever cover up the effects of aging with plastic surgery), how much of ourselves we reveal online, and why we chose the picture in our profile. Of course, it's also Halloween, which means that we have to talk costumes and candy.
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So start thinking about what you're hiding, and what you're ready to reveal by taking off your mask.

At first I looked at the theme and thought it would be another one I'd pay lip service to, but then I read the prompts and changed my mind. Here's today's: "When you saw the word mask, was your first interpretation protection, covering up, persona, or performance?" Without the prompt, I might have responded with "persona," but with the prompt, my answer is "performance."

I've been online since January 1990, and very early on I realized that I was performing for an audience.* I'm still performing here. My strategy with this blog, just as with all the rest of my public online communication, is to inform or persuade while entertaining, even if I'm only entertaining myself. As I've discovered when I'm teaching, if I'm bored, my students are bored. If they're bored, no one is learning. I try to keep that in mind while I'm writing here, too. May I succeed more than I fail.

*I shouldn't be surprised at this. I spent decades around drum corps, where performance is king, and I can't even get away from the activity here.