It’s needlessly hard to relate to people who present a 100% aspirational persona in public. The mask never slips, and it’s usually more work than it’s worth to connect with the real person behind the mask.
I used to put in the work, but now my strategy is to give up immediately.
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I mean, the work-in-progress person you are now, warts and all, is probably more relatable and interesting than the stepford-you from Utopia-2022 you perform.
Relax, let your guard down a bit, make it easier for people. If some jerk exploits the openness, block and move on.
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The thing is, you might be the most profoundly fascinating person behind the mask, but the value of a relationship can’t really exceed the interestingness of the less interesting party, so people won’t put in more work to access you than they think they themselves are worth.
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* Usual footnotes about celebs, pretty girls, and rich people apply. Different rules apply for them. Power, sex, and money always distort any generalizations you can make on such topics.
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My aspirational persona took over years ago. There’s nothing left behind it. Sucked dry.
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I'm imagining the one person who's actually killing it 100% of the time but no one believes in them
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Everything is about the margin. People living in the British isles could do with a bit more of black turtleneck chutzpah.
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I often observe the opposite: people who are super serious & aspirational in real life, but who are total goofballs on social media. You would never know because they see their aspirational side as a "brand" or "persona" that they don't want to stereotyped with.
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Hard agree. I'm not even sure your caveat applies that much--look at the infamous Reddit AMAs with wooden celebs.





