Some Thoughts About The Face In A Masked-Up World
Windows To The Soul
They say that eyes are like windows to the soul. Growing up, many of us probably pondered this phrase at one time or another. Whether we came upon it in some romantic Valentines verses, or read it in a book, it is a phrase we are all familiar with. We know what it means.
Or do we?
It’s simple enough, right? Eyes are like windows. You look through them. When you gaze into someone’s olive or chocolate or sea-blue or amber iris you get a glimpse into their being, personality, and humanity. That little twinkle shows that they’re a jokester. Her fiery flashes say she’s feisty. His watery clarity shows intelligence.
But here’s a question. Do these soul-glimpses come exclusively through a person’s eyes? Asked another way, do eyes make sense if there’s no face attached to them?
Eyes May Be Windows, But Windows Need A House
Imagine a floating pair of eyes…
Well, that’s creepy. Eyes have to be in a face to have expression. Ask any makeup artist. Eyebrows are key! But more than eyebrows, you need the nose, the mouth, the wrinkles and crinkles and dimples and freckles. Expression is a package deal. All these elements together give humans glimpses into each other’s souls.
So, the phrase “eyes are like windows” can’t make sense apart from the added depth that a person’s whole face brings to their personality. The face is the structure, the “house” that the eyes are built into. Without the face, you only have eyes. Floating windows. They may have color and character, charisma and charm, but they don’t have context.
They don’t live up to their full potential if they’re just…detached, floating… somewhere out there.
Maybe your eyes are like windows on display at Home Depot. Perhaps they’re gorgeous, premium, signature or stained glass. You’ve got a designer brand built for a luxury home. Great! You’re not really going to get a good view through them until they’re installed in the house. You’re not going to appreciate them to the fullest until they’re placed into the beautifully decorated wall.
We know that eyes are an enormous part of expression. They go along with the features that make up a person’s face and give them personality. Eyes are the windows that let others look in.
Keep this in mind: you can have the most beautiful designer windows in the world but until they’re installed properly in their frames they’re nothing special, they don’t stand out and they’re not doing what they were built for.
Context Covering
So, what’s the point? you may be asking. This phrase is just a poetic expression. No one really believes that only eyes express personality.
True…that would be silly.
But the fact is, we live in a time when window-contexts are being shrouded. To be precise, the face has taken a hard hit over the past year and a half.
There are these little things called masks. You may have heard of them. They’re all the rage in 2021. Whatever your opinion may be about these little nasal aprons, they are an unavoidable reality.
Whether you wear one (or not) they are everywhere these days. If you wear one to protect yourself or others, because you’re told to or for the sheer pleasure of it, masks are a new norm.
Coronavirus has changed existence for those of us who live in the 2020s. People have lost things. Loved ones, health, jobs, and the ability to live a normal life. Phrases like “lock down,” “self-isolation,” and “quarantine” permeate the air around us. Social isolation is rampant.
These are heavy hurts, compounded by the damage of lost connection with other human beings.
But have we talked enough about the loss of the face?
Isolation can take several forms. Whether you’re hiding behind locked doors or jogging through a park full of masked people makes little difference. If people are walking souls, and eyes are windows to those souls, and windows need a house then… by covering up our houses with masks, all we’re left with are those creepy floating eyes.
Glaring Eyes
Do you remember those first weeks of the mask mandate? How did you feel when you strolled into a store for groceries? Did you have warm and fuzzy feelings inside, excited to experience other humans’ smiling…eyes?
I don’t know about you, but I felt stressed.
Smiles and friendly greetings seemed to have vanished from the earth. Instead of warm human faces all I saw were pieces of cloth with eyes hovering above them. With fear and panic at the threat of mass disease also came the loss of comfort from seeing fellow human beings’ faces. Muffled voices and screened expressions both added to my growing sense of unease. Were people losing their humanity when they put on the mask?
Whether or not a person wearing a mask was cheerful, friendly or well-intentioned, the fact remained that all I could see were their context-less eyes, and below them a blank, expressionless mask.
Which way was their mouth going?
Did their nose crinkle when they smiled?
What about dimples or freckles?
What about the lines and wrinkles that are so vital when showing you if a person is happy or sad, goofy or mad?
I felt jumpy all the time. Anxious to the point of hyperventilating. I heard kind comments from others, but I could not seethe face to back it up. They may have been smiling behind the mask, but all I saw were two glaring, staring, creepy eyes.
The Importance Of The House
Maybe you have experienced something similar. Perhaps you just pushed through the initial fright and awkwardness of wearing a mask and seeing others do the same. Now you’re used to the “new normal.”
But if you still have a nagging feeling at the back of your mind telling you this isn’t natural, I want you to know you’re not alone. Don’t feel silly for feeling disoriented, anxious, or even afraid when you see someone else wearing a mask. Faces are important! We have them for a reason. They are an integral part of what makes us human.
We need to see others’ expressions to make sense of the world.
Have you ever wondered why bank robbers in movies wear masks? It’s to hide their identity. To keep people from recognizing them.
Reverse that and you get a partial idea of why a person’s face is so important. It plays a huge role in identity. The face allows people to recognize each other. Take that away and what do you have? A lot of uncertainty to say the least. Maybe a dose of mistrust or a dash of fear doesn’t sound too far fetched now.
Press in a little further. Faces aren’t simply identity markers, otherwise we could all tape our driver’s licenses to the front of our masks and everything would be fine. But that’s silly and we know it. The face is a dynamic entity. It changes.
Why do we say expressions like “her face fell” or “his countenance lifted?” There’s a lot the face can do. From any face can come a grimacing, cringing, frowning, beaming, ogling, sneering, glowering, blushing, smirking, grinning, wincing, winking, or dimpling expression. And every person’s face will look unique doing any of those actions.
A billion variations come from a billion expressions and each person is constantly communicating to their fellow human beings through their face.
Lost Chances For Learning
While it might be fine to put these expressive communications “on hold” for a little while, that time frame can have wide-ranging effects on people at different stages of development.
For instance, think about babies.They don’t yet know how to understand or talk, but the input they receive in the first few months of life is vital for teaching these skills. An adult, already fully developed won’t miss a person’s face as much. But with every covered face a child loses a critical chance to learn. Without seeing examples of other people faces how can a baby learn to communicate with their own?
Sure they might see their parents’ faces at home. But have we had time to measure the impact of variety? It takes many faces with different kinds of expressions to teach a child what he or she needs to learn communication.
This much is clear, masks arrest the normal, social-emotional development of growing minds.
Faces Are Important
I’ve said all this in hopes of convincing you that faces are important.
A world without faces is missing part of what it means to be human. A world without faces is not something we should get used to. In fact, this is something we cannot get used to without seriously damaging ourselves and the next generation.
But people can still be unique and individual even with a mask on, you may say. Or, you might suggest that face-to-face communication isn’t all that important these days.
It’s true that people have other ways of expressing themselves and of communicating. Someone may slap a sappy quote on his or her mask. It is obvious that individuality isn’t only found in the face, in the same way that faces aren’t only made of eyes. People also have bodies and hobbies. We are whole persons with limbs that make us unique and abilities that differentiate us.
But all this confirms the fact that humans have an innate desire to communicate.
Why is that?
More Than Just A House With Nice Windows
The face is the unit through which a person exposes his or her inner thoughts.
Other people are able to understand these thoughts via hearing, seeing, or touching each-other’s faces. In this way humans are especially built to communicate with one another. We are unique in our knack for formulating and comprehending facial expression.
Where does that ability come from and why is it important?
As a Christian I believe the only compelling answer for the where and why of facial expression lies in the first chapter of the Bible. We have faces that can do what they do because God made them that way. Genesis 1:27 explains that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This image-bearing is complex. Humans reflect God in both their souls and bodies. We are a likeness of God who created us. But in what way are we made in God’s image?
God Is A Communicator
God is essentially a communicator. Scripture is one of the ways he communicates to us and it often describes God as having a face. For instance 2 Corinthians 4:6 describes how “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” is found in the face of Jesus Christ.
Our faces transfer meaning between us because we are copycats of the ultimate Communicator. Our expressions are broadcastings that are somehow linked to God’s nature. Our ability to understand each other comes directly from the supreme Source of all understanding.
Because God exists, and because we are made in his image, our faces have deep significance.
All this points to why it feels unnatural for human beings to cover their faces. God made us to reflect his image, which includes communication. That doesn’t mean that we are “little gods,” but that some how we were all made to represent him.
Whether or not we’ve grown “comfortable” wearing a mask every day, we sense deep down that we were made to communicate. And our faces play a crucial role in that.
Face To Face
So, before we go covering up the house that holds the windows to our souls we should take a moment to consider the importance of the face.
We can really understand and identify another person through their face. How cool is that!
There is a kind of power in the face. With so much potential for communication, we should think twice before we cover our countenances.
Think about how a warm grin can cheer you up. Or what about a great laugh? Sure you can hear it behind the mask, but you can’t see it. Have you ever noticed the chain of smiles that erupts in a room when someone has a contagious laugh? A person’s face has an enormous ability to affect others.
Witnessing someone communicate to you through their whole face is remarkable.
Conclusion
The 2020s have been strange, to say the least. People are hurting in new ways.
But, in a time of great loss, I wonder if we’re taking on more pain than we need to. We are giving up something valuable and precious when we put the mask on. Is it worth it? Let’s not be afraid to admit that the perceived safety of the mask might not be worth the cost of lost humanity.
They say that eyes are windows to the soul…
What will they say about the generation that lost the face — the house that goes with our windows? And how can we make sense of those showroom eyes, floating, eerie and expressionless over an empty piece of cloth?
