Gaslighting

Gaslighting: psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question their own validity. This typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem. I honestly had no idea what this word meant before today, but at this very juncture, I’m under the impression that this is just an honest definition of how the world works these days.

Our entire existence and modern civilization seems to be based on varying degrees of this gaslighting.

I don’t think that most of it is intentional, nor do I think it’s intended to be malicious, but it runs the range of tremendously debt encumbered, barely escaping bankruptcy business types who only share the flashy cars and vacations until the creditors come calling, to the fitness influencers in their 20’s who have no other responsibilities but to workout and who seem to forget about the fact that their biggest achievement was winning the genetic lottery.

We only let the bright lights shine on the real story to a select few.

A lot of the time, that just means we leave out certain contextual details that might give more accuracy to the stories we’re telling, at the expense of drama, entertainment value and self worth. And quite frankly, I really don’t have a huge problem with it. I just think that you have to remember that at this point in history, there’s always more to the story than meets the eye.

Why is it important? Because it causes an undue level of comparison between all the skeletons and filth we’ve got stashed away in our closet and the shiny, sparkling version of the stories presented. “This typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem.”

And it’s not just social media, it’s bled through into real life too. This creates a deepening of anxiety and a continual quest to understand why it seems like you are the only one that poops. But as the literary work of genius once said, “Everyone Poops”.

We’ve all got our imperfections, insecurities and most of us are just putting up some form of an illusion about how things are actually going.

So while we are still encouraging you to strive to be the person you want to be, please be skeptical of using others as that measure, because whether they’re trying to or not, in one way or another, they’re just gaslighting you anyway.