THE INTERNET HAS MADE EVERYONE TOO COMFORTABLE

Hi, it’s Maria!

I think the internet has made people way too comfortable having opinions on strangers. And honestly, way too affected by strangers having opinions on them.

Somewhere along the way, everyone started thinking every thought needed to become a comment. Every outfit needs feedback. Every relationship needs public

discussion. Every workout needs critique. Every life decision needs an audience.

People speak on strangers online with a level of familiarity they would never have in real life, and it’s gotten weird.

Not everything needs commentary.

And not everyone is supposed to have access to you.

I don’t think people fully realize how unnatural it is to consume this many opinions every single day. Thousands of people constantly commenting on each

other’s bodies, routines, personalities, relationships, appearances, and choices.

At a certain point, people stopped just existing and started performing. And now people are hyperaware of themselves all the time.

You second guess posting the picture even though you liked it when you took it. You type out a caption and delete it three times because suddenly it feels

embarrassing. You think about trying the class, but then convince yourself everyone there already knows what they’re doing.

You want to wear the outfit,

say the thing, start over, put yourself out there, but before you even do it, you start imagining how it could be perceived.

So people shrink themselves before anyone else even gets the chance to. And honestly, that’s exhausting. Not everyone is supposed to have a comment on

your life.

At a certain point, showing up for a friend's birthday dinner, attending the And you’re also not supposed to have one on everyone else’s.I think that’s part of why people are terrified of being bad at something publicly

now, whether it’s trying a new workout class, going somewhere alone, starting over, or posting something imperfect, because people are so aware of the

possibility of judgment that they stop themselves before anyone else even gets the chance to.

People reject themselves before anyone else even gets the opportunity to. They decide they’ll look stupid before anyone has even looked at them. They convince themselves they don’t belong before they’ve even walked into the room.

And the irony is, most people are too consumed with themselves to be paying nearly as much attention as you think they are. That’s something I think about a lot at BARE.

Because I know there are people sitting in their car outside studios convincing themselves not to walk in. Not because they can’t physically handle the workout, but because they feel so painfully aware of themselves already.

But once you get into the right room, you realize something important pretty quickly. Most people aren’t there to judge you. They’re there trying to work on themselves too.

And honestly, I think people are craving that more than ever right now. Spaces where they can exist without feeling like they’re performing all the time. Spaces where they can just be a person again instead of a profile, a comment section, or a personal brand.

The internet has blurred a lot of lines.

Access, entitlement, closeness, criticism.

People confuse visibility with permission. Just because you can see into someone’s life doesn’t mean you’re supposed to have an opinion on it. I think

people would enjoy their lives a lot more if they stopped imagining themselves through someone else’s perspective all the time.

Not every moment needs to be evaluated while it’s happening. Not every decision needs to be filtered through how it might look, sound, or be perceived

by other people. At a certain point, you stop fully experiencing your own life because you’re too busy trying to view yourself from the outside.🖤

From my core to yours,

Maria Stege

Founder & CEO, BARE Pilates Studio

…and that’s The Naked Truth