Bearing a mask

Probably "wearing"would be more proper, yet....
With time the mask become a bear (for lesser English users - "weight", "charge", "load").
What a funny play with words - ""bear" and "bare"....
Mask is not flexible thing. It never bends to you - you bend to it.
Mask roots into yourself, become a part of you...  Removed, expose bare flesh, steaming wound.
Removal of it hurts, as mask is always part of you.
What you would choose?