Journal Entry- May 6, 2025

I was reading a book called Encouragement, written by psychologists, that turned out to be so much more valuable than I thought. They explained that people are hiding behind layers, which is why so many people have superficial relationships. We are so scared of people finding out who we really are. Anxiety is probably the number one “mental health problem”. Anxiety had always been considered fear, until psychology tried to make people feel better by calling it a mental health disorder and feeding people meds.

I went out with some girls the other day because I was just craving basic human connection. I actually came back home feeling worse. One of the girls does absolutely nothing but gossip about other people. It ruined the dynamics so badly. How can you learn about another person when someone lives in “superficial land?”

When I think about that, I realize most people’s relationships have no depth. No true intimacy. Another corrupted word. When people say intimacy, it immediately goes to sexual instead of closeness. For shame.

These are the masks people are wearing. Conforming, to be accepted, instead of truly expressing their authenticity. Just go to TikTok or Instagram and look at the “aesthetics.” People dying to find their “people.” Saying they crave authenticity, but if it doesn’t look and sound like them, it makes them uncomfortable.

Someone called me quirky online and I just loved it 😍😍❤️❤️! I am truly blessed to live in America to enjoy self-expression. Our problem here is that we don’t know appropriate self-expression. It’s almost like people are outside trying to offend others. The flipside is people who don’t like things that aren’t “normal.” What is normal anyway?

Life is a balance. It’s not about total openness. It’s not about self-expression to offend. We are responsible to each other (whether people wish to believe this or not). Our appearance is such a small part of us. The depth of a human soul longs for a connection, but we’re too afraid of being hurt.

Just another reason why I love Jesus. I feel totally free to be myself while obeying His commands and building other people up and encouraging them to be who God created them to be.