CROOKED

The fake it till you make it culture!

I texted a friend who posted a car she had bought “congratulations” with very clear intentions of congratulating her. She replied, “Ah, Tutu, Lol. It’s not exactly my car yet o”. The confusion that ran through my mind is unexplainable. I went back to the post to be sure I didn’t read the captions wrong and the caption read, “Work in silence and show the results. I made mama proud. the First car at 20. #BenzOwner”. I read that caption out loud to be exactly sure I still understand English. I zoomed the picture to her face since she stood in front of the car and held the key. Her reply to my congratulatory message baffled me and I assumed she did not want me to know it’s her car or something. Later that same day, a mutual friend posted “You guys should lie small small sha”. Anyone who knows me would be very much aware of my “I mind my business” attitude but I couldn’t resist replying to the mutual friend to know who she was referring to. She mentioned the Benz Owner’s name and I got more curious. The backstory is, she’s not the owner of the car. She followed a friend to price a car and ended up taking pictures poising like she bought the car. It was then I went back to reply to Benz owner and she said “I’m faking it till I make it dear. Proclaim what you want”. 

I understand claiming what you want in your mind but making an entire post about it is as contradictory to making a wish like any other thing. The fake it till you make it culture has eaten deep into all of us that sometimes we forget that people are watching. From our social media pages to our day-to-day lives. We are not who we are. The strive to look expensive to people who care and people who don’t is dementing.

It starts as first trying to be someone everyone is envious of and before you know it, you’re eroding off the real you and walking around being the non-existent alter ego you have created while constantly being scared of being caught or ratted out. 

In a world where day-to-day relations with people require gaining their trust and making sure everyone likes you, it is not rare to see us living to these expectations by faking you to make you. Forgetting that no matter how perfect you present yourself to the world, not everyone will accept and like you. 

Faking success before becoming successful is a culture that should be discouraged not because of my personal belief but because people who see you and want to help you would assume you’re already successful enough and their help would be noncontributory to you. Raising tensions among your age group with things you don’t own or things you are not is derogatory to them and depreciating who you are.

Showing your true self and true worth comes with vulnerabilities but it also does come with empathy. Allowing people to see you for who you are generates the basis of strong relations and connections with people. The thing I’ve come to learn about life is, “If you won’t be accepted for who you are, you should not be there”.

Faking it is as inessential as proving to people that you have made it. Honestly, no one cares. The people that care should do so for your originality. Strive hard to build yourself. Strive hard to be good for yourself. Strive hard to make yourself proud. You don’t have to announce your wins. True wins have echos. People will hear it when it is right. “Fake it till you make it” is garbage advice, it comes from a place of unnecessary showoff. 

You are cheating yourself, not others.

On a good note, your girl won the elections. I’m now the Editor-In-Chief of my department. 

Special thank you to all my friends and family that supported me so far. You guys are the real MVPs. I’m so elated and I could scream my lungs out. I ran unopposed by the way, my friends are prayer warriors, Lol. Yeah. Put some respekk on the name. I’m no longer just a freelancer editor. Thank you for the everytime support guys. Big love.

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Yours,

ADETUTU❤️