Here and there we hear about influencers, and see doctored photos on social media and elsewhere. It seems that such people are not happy with themselves and wish to present an enhanced image of themselves. This requires plenty of time and energy output just to impress total strangers. Keeping up a façade requires the abandonment of self-respect. That said, most of us eventually see through fake images anyway.

We perceive such individuals as having no real selves. Superficiality is off-putting to us. Meantime people who are the real deal are easier to be around and more trustworthy. Being real without oversharing helps genuine folks bring positivity to society. We know these things either instinctively or by way of learning the hard way through experience. Dishonesty is eventually discovered anyway, so putting up an elaborate façade is a waste of energy.

In an unanticipated way, I was fortunate to discover the…