One of the main themes in spiritual teachings is detachment. It’s about non-identification. With things or with people. We live in a material world which identification with things is important. We own things like houses, cars and clothes. And these things often define who we are. The more we identify with things, the more trapped and entangled we become. This ultimately means the less freedom we would have.
Roles We Play
We all play different roles in society. A mother plays her role of being a mother, a teacher plays her role of being a teacher and so on. Often times we have multiple roles, we may be a dad and a Uber driver at the same time. But sometimes these roles get overwhelming. These roles become so intense that we don’t want to play these roles anymore. The expectations on us can sometimes be so overwhelming that we resort to extreme solutions. This can cause harm to ourselves and others, not a great way to deal with things.
Remove Our Masks
What do we do with these roles that we get tired of playing? Well, the trick is to recognise that these are merely social constructs and aren’t who we truly are. Roles are merely masks we have put on. They can be important in social situations but at the end of the day we should also be able to take off these masks. Ultimately we are not labels or name tags but dynamic beings that thrive best in environments where we can find our truest and freest expressions.