imposter.

how to spot a fake in today’s world: you can’t.

. . .

we Live in a world of illusionment. very few things and people are as they appear to be— plastic faces, breasts, and stomachs to cover up natural Beauty + the wonderment of Motherhood and femininity. chemically-enhanced and laboratory-produced “health” foods + drinks that poison the cells + feed cancer. houses built with the cheapest materials + in the fastest manners possible, yet sold at premium dollar-tags for properly status’ed bragging rights. cheap reproductions of masterpieces, because someone, somewhere, caught wind that you can make a lot of money stealing + reselling an artist’s dreams. smiles on faces that want to see you fail, because misery + weakness are easier bedfellows than courage + integrity— friendliness is quite often fatal insincerity.

you are surrounded by an entire world of Fakes posing as Treasures.

+ you are their favorite prey.

so congratulations! you have been fooled into believing an imposter’s play. + a mighty crafty imposter, at that.

. . .

so what keeps us from being imposters, ourselves?

what separates the authentic from the fake? and how do we keep our Lives True, when the world around us seems to promote + reward the frauds?

. . .

a heart that is radically pursuing Truth— that which is Real— is forced to recognize its own propensity towards evil. in other words, the more i seek to be Good, the more bad i discover within.

so my only hope for being authentic, at this stage of awareness, is unadulterated humility + honesty.

not the stuff that tells people what they want to hear, but the stuff that says it like it is. not the stuff that makes you popular with the crowd, but the stuff that makes the crowd hate you + wish you’d just go away. not the stuff that fills the bank account with more decimal places, but the stuff that will cost you everything— until you realize that wealth isn’t determined by Man.

wealth is integrity is Truth is honor.

. . .

online dating is a fun way to do research on imposters. so is house-hunting through web-based ads. i mean— let’s just admit it— the entire internet-groupthink-web is a black hole of snapchat filters and phony bios and pretending to be something that you’re not so as to attract a few more of those thumbs-up dopamine hits your brain chemistry has come to so intensely crave.

we are addicted to fake.

fake happy. fake Love. fake attraction. fake success. fake food. fake medicine. fake Beauty. fake Power. fake money. fake justice.

but better to be temporarily seduced by the fake than to actually take the Time to pursue to Real, right?!

because who even cares if it’s fake when it feels so good?!

. . .

i fight hedonism on the daily. the attraction of instant gratification beckons me with a sly grin + a whisper into my InnerBe that says, “it’s okay to want to feel good, annie.” so i tiptoe to the edge of the bottomless pit to see what kind of feel-goods i might be missing out on— and there’s a whole carnival of pleasure to partake in!

but upon closer examination— behind all of the fun-and-games facades are the gears + knobs of a very well-oiled machine that over-promises and under-delivers, every. single. time.

. . .

Wisdom calls out to the Seeking Man: “i thought you wanted something real!”

the Man responds inwardly: “i thought this was.”

. . .

my challenge to you today, sweet friend— is to become aware of the imposters. to get good at knowing when you’ve been duped, + then making a swift, clean break. we all get conned. we all get the lights turned on in the middle of a hustle to see that we have been manipulated + taken. it’s a “buyer-beware” world out there because scammers are better at selling junk than a Treasure-keeper could ever be.

it’s time to wake up, my friend—

and get real with yourself.

so you can get real with others— + spot the fakes before Time says it’s too late.

. . .

“I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.”

—Jesus

. . .

Love you. mean it.