Scripture 3: Other People Are Not Real

Let’s begin with a fundamental truth that has saved me from the pit of social anxiety on many an occasion: Other people are not real.

That man watching you butcher your iced coffee order like you’ve never spoken words before? Fictional.
The group of teens silently judging your outfit from across the street? Holograms.
That woman who saw you trip up the stairs (not down them... up) and let out a tiny gasp? Deepfake.

You see, once you fully accept the comforting, mildly deranged notion that every stranger you encounter is essentially an NPC with Wi-Fi, life becomes… a little easier.

Stage Fright and the Phantom Audience

Remember that time you had to speak in front of your coworkers and your soul momentarily left your body? You forgot how to blink, let alone pronounce the word “strategy.” You walked off stage (read: stepped slightly to the left) with the emotional damage of a failed X Factor audition.

Now here’s a brain-busting question:

Can you name five people who were in that room?

No? Exactly. Because they’re not real. They're extras in your Truman Show episode who vanished as soon as you exited the scene.

The world is not watching you. You’re not Beyoncé. Calm down.

The Mental Spotlight Fallacy

Social anxiety is rooted in a very flattering delusion: the belief that everyone is looking at you, judging you, and planning a group chat roast session based on how you held your phone at a weird angle while trying to take a selfie at the bus stop.

The truth?
Everyone is too busy spiraling about their own awkward moments to notice yours.

You could walk down the street dressed as a medieval knight licking an ice cream cone, and most people would give you five seconds of their mental bandwidth before returning to panicking about an email they forgot to send in 2019.

Why You Should Absolutely Act Like a Fool in Public

You want to dance while waiting for your latte?
Do it.

You want to belt out the wrong lyrics to a song you can't sing in the grocery store?
Go off, emotionally unstable bard.

You want to ride a shopping cart like a chariot in a parking lot at 10PM?
You are a Roman emperor.

The people who judge you? Not real.
The people who laugh? Also not real.
The person you become when you stop caring? Very real. And kind of iconic.

But What If Someone Actually Judges Me?

Oh no! A stranger with their own unresolved childhood trauma thought your interpretive dance to the elevator music was “cringe”? Tragic.

But ask yourself:
Will you ever see that person again?
Do you know their name?
Did they pay your rent this month?

If the answer is “no,” Congratulations. You are free from their opinion.

And if the answer is “yes,” you’re either dating them or they’re your landlord, in which case your freedom died long ago and you’re now performing out of spite.

The Liberating Power of Believing in Nothing

Social rules? Fabricated.
Dignity? Overrated.
Other people? Simulations with taxes.

This isn’t about being weird for the sake of it. It’s about reclaiming joy in a world that profits off your self-consciousness. Be silly. Be loud. Be cringe. Embarrassment is only real if you let it be.

Because the reality is: life is short, attention spans are shorter, and nobody is paying as much attention to you as your anxiety would have you believe.

So go ahead and do failed cartwheels in the park. Laugh too loudly at a meme in public. Wear socks with sandals. Be the main character in a town full of blurry background actors.

And the next time you feel paralyzed by the invisible eyes of “society,” just take a deep breath and remember:

Other people are not real.