What if our lives are just a reality show?

written by Srijani Jana, BA Psychology honours, 3rd year.

edited and designed by Anshika Singh, B.A. English honours, 1st year.

What If Our Lives Are Just a Reality Show when no one is watching?

Have you ever wondered that perhaps we have been actually acting unknowingly to the "real" audience? No, don't get angry at me! Let me explain myself, I think I have a theory about that. You must have heard by now the famous sentence "life is a stage and we are all actors".

Have you ever felt like there was someone who was watching you? Not in a supernatural way but like, someone who was simply watching every little part of your life: the interactions, decisions, mishaps and successes that only you witness. Although this may seem far-fetched, you could be surprised to learn that we already live in such a way. We have people around us playing different roles, we put on displays for them, modify certain behaviors and characteristics depending on who is watching and are constantly aware that others are judging us, whether we like it or not.

Social media doesn't do any better, since we often decide what to show or not show in order to manipulate a certain response to those watching. Are we really that transparent as it appears? We may not be as fake as we seem but it could be true that we do act day in and day out for an audience that may or may not be present. After all, the saying goes along with "all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players". But wait, what if that's not a performance, but reality?

What if it actually does mean something? Maybe this is the reason why we judge ourselves by other's approval, disapproval and points of views. This idea somehow seems familiar to you right? Because in the end, we all are acting for someone's approval. Let's take social media as an example and admit that no one is actually completely honest there. That's called acting baby (maybe each year is a new season,with new characters and a different plot and every silence is just an advertisement making a pause in the series of our lives). And every time we seem to forget what we were supposed to do subconsciously, maybe that's called an edit!

They say our destinies are already written, maybe that's true because after all, shows are pre-scripted. Every hesitation, every outburst all script but in real time. And what if it's not ghosts that we feel or see but the creators working backstage? Crazy right?

Maybe that the scariest part is that we have learned the script so well that we don't dare to question anymore. And yet, somewhere between costume altercations and forgotten cues, there are moments that don't seem rehearsed at all, when we love without calculating, when we laugh at the most unfunny things.

Perhaps we will never know if there exists an audience that watches us or if there was ever a script to our lives. But maybe it does not matter, since we play the roles trying to be someone's ideal person and say the right words so much that we forget to simply live. Perhaps our real life consists of the things we never planned. The stupid laughter, the random decisions and the times when we do not care about others' opinions anymore. So maybe, if our life is indeed a performance, it is a good idea to leave some scenes unstaged. Because what is the point of being a protagonist if we cannot be ourselves?

So dear reader, do you dare to feel something unscripted even when no one is watching?