When a person survives The Chaos & The Void but doesn't actually heal the wounds that led to it, one option to survive in this world is to wear The Mask, create a persona, become someone on the outside who they don't feel like they are on the inside. Oftentimes people who wear masks are high achievers, perfectionists, successful in their professional lives, but their personal lives can be quite the opposite. Some people vow never to marry or never marry again because the people who were supposed to love them, actually hurt them and they aren't stepping into that voluntarily or a second time. Some don't want children because they experienced pain as a child and don't want to be responsible for bringing a baby into this world with that risk. Others will get married, start a family, but not actually engage with the family because being close to people signals danger. The family completes the perfect picture for the persona's ego, but the hurting individual on the inside does not have the capacity to engage emotionally with a spouse or children. Everyone ends up feeling alone at best but in some cases abused in one way or another if the mask comes off under duress. Oftentimes for self-protection and sometimes for the protection of those the individual actually does love as much as they are capable of, the human wearing The Mask works tirelessly trying to achieve and earn appreciation and recognition, status from the outside world because inside the person feels completely unlovable as a human being. Self-compassion is missing so there is little to no opportunity for vulnerability from this individual. However, the eyes, as windows to the soul, often tell a different story than the rest of the face.