Remove the Mask

“Safe is a place where you can get out the worst about you and they don’t run you off, talk you down, or head for the hills. It’s having someone to stand with when you start to face the shameful stuff. It’s where you can be a jerk and still have a place at the table the next day…where you don’t have to hide or fake or pretend or bluff. Safe is being loved more for revealing your crap, not less. Safe is not having to ‘man up’ or be coerced to ‘get real’ or none of that nonsense.’ - John Lynch

John Lynch, one of our favorite authors and speakers, often shares in his lectures and writings about how we as individuals often put on masks hiding our true identities. He says we do this for a number of reasons such as: the fear of being left alone, the fear of being judged, or the fear of losing confidentiality. As a result, we put on these masks trying to hide our true feelings.

Its hard for us to trust others especially if we have had a broken relationship in the past, if we have been judged harshly, or if the confidentiality we thought others would give us was violated. The fact is that we have all been hurt in these ways. And the fact is all of us do indeed have a hard time trusting.

The disadvantage of not fully trusting others and not allowing others to trust us leads to loneliness, isolation, and most importantly, does not allow us to be who we truly are and have been created to be. We have all been created to live in relationship with others and when we cannot live fully in those relationships we do not experience all that life is meant to be.

In creating this service, both of us, Michael and Tom, knew that we needed to make a commitment to one another to trust and be trusted, to be open and vulnerable, to share freely, and to love unconditionally. Our primary goal is to help you to remove the mask, with us, and with others, without fear.