Face on Mars is not about Mars

Fugue states fascinate me.  I pour over the details of people who flee their lives on foot, their identity forgotten.  What are you left with without a sense of self?  When you don't know your own birthday or location of your home, what remains? Is there a moment when the weight of self is set aside or falls away?  When you look in the mirror, do you recognize a face or is it just shadows and light?