The spotlight effect. It's a psychological term that describes the belief that everyone around you--from family to friends to complete strangers going about their own business in public--are watching your every move intensely. Now, are people actually doing this? Absolutely not. And if they are, they need to get their priorities straight because the only thing they should be worrying about is themselves.

I suppose that's the point--we need to worry about ourselves. Too often, we spend precious time and energy worrying about what other people are doing with their lives. Too often, we waste our lives living them for other people when in reality, we should be living them for ourselves. Life should be lived as unapologetically ourselves. We should be as kind, as crazy, as loud, as us as we possibly can be. Who cares what other people think? If others are judging you or watching you as intensely as you truly believe, they are the ones with the problem--hell, they're probably even jealous.

Plus, if you walk around life thinking everyone is constantly watching you, how debilitating is that? You calculate your every move, your every word, in order to make sure you're fitting society's standards.

At the end of the day, what even are society's standards?

Essentially, live your life for yourself. Live up to your own standards. It doesn't matter what others are doing or saying about you as long as you are content with the way you live your life. At the end of the day, your happiness with yourself is the only thing that matters. And those who don't like you don't truly matter.

So, do your own thing. Dance to your own beat. Create your own beat. And always remember this: don't let the spotlight own you. Own that spotlight.