The Illusion
The illusion of reality is nearly impossible to recognize when you are born into a world meticulously constructed to conceal it.
Everything we know is handed down to us by figures of authority—parents, teachers, leaders—who themselves learned it from those before them. Rarely do we challenge or question the foundations of our reality. It is only during moments of rebellion, like the turbulent teenage years, that we begin to feel the cracks in the facade—a yearning to be different, to break free from the mold. Yet, years of indoctrination into ideas of “right” and “wrong,” “success” and “failure,” leave many of us feeling hollow. As our innocence fades and our dreams are eroded by the harshness of a preordained future, we are left wondering: is this all there is?
From an early age, we are fed fabricated stories—Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and other myths. These lies may seem harmless, but they are carefully designed to create the first seeds of mistrust. When the truth inevitably emerges, the emotional weight of that betrayal cuts deep. These formative moments—when we realize that those we trusted most perpetuated these untruths—can leave scars, even if unintentionally. Relationships with parents and mentors begin to fray, trust is broken, and the innocent wonder we once held slips away.
This isn’t to place blame on parents or teachers. They, too, are participants in a system they didn’t create, passing down the same stories they were told. Instead, these moments should serve as a catalyst—an invitation to question the deeper truths of our reality. Why do we accept certain constructs without scrutiny? Why do we trust the shadows on the wall without asking what casts them? This is why I am writing this online book and creating NFT art—to provoke thought, to connect dots, and to share my journey of questioning, learning, and unearthing new layers of my own reality. The more I peel back, the more positive an impact it has on my life.
But in today’s world, we face a new layer of deception—the digital illusion. We are inundated with curated lives on social media, forgetting how artificial and manipulated these representations are. The relentless consumption of this digital reality is rewiring our brains, feeding anxiety and depression. Social media operates like a drug, activating chemicals that directly manipulate our emotions. We’ve become addicted to screens, experiencing separation anxiety when disconnected, spending more time staring at devices than at the faces of the people around us.
This digital illusion is, in many ways, more insidious than the shadows in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Imagine if the slaves in the cave had smartphones—endless distractions to keep them fixated on illusions far more engaging than the flickering shadows on the wall. How could they ever find their way to freedom?
The truth is, we are those slaves. The shadows have evolved, and the chains are now digital. But the choice remains the same: will we continue to live in a constructed reality, or will we dare to question, explore, and step into the light?
