Staged

On roles, reflexes, and the quiet rebellion of showing up as yourself

You enter the room

Smile

Tilt your head

Say something smooth

Something safe

You know this script

You've played this role

It works

Until it doesn't

Sometimes

When the light hits just right

You no longer know who stepped onto the stage

Backstage behavior

Sociologist Erving Goffman called life a theatre

Not because it's fake

But because it's framed

We perform not to deceive but to be received

And sometimes the performance outlives the need

The mask stays

Long after the moment passed

The role that repeats you

You get good at a part

So good it feels like you

But it was cast

Chosen

Practiced

Trying something different isn't a betrayal

It's revision

One breath at a time

You weren't born for consistency

You were born to become

Mask cues and missed lines

What part do I step into without thinking

What mask do I still wear even when no one's watching

What truth am I rehearsing instead of living

"To be oneself is always a performance; the trick is to perform it truthfully."

Jeanette Winterson

When the stage goes quiet

You don't need to leave

You only need to ask

Whose lines are these

And do they still belong

Sometimes

The most honest moment is the one that didn't rehearse

You're invited to listen to the unscripted

Download: Mask Ask- Coaching Card Deck