Max Ren

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Deep Cut #13 – You Want Love, But You Don’t Let Anyone Touch You

You say you want connection.You want someone real.Someone who sees you.Gets you.Stays. But you don’t let anyone close.Not really. You perform closeness.You give just enough.You say the right things, share the right wounds,and keep your heart wrapped in razor wire. Because deep down—you don’t trust love.You trust defense.You trust survival.You trust control. You want to […]

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Deep Cut #12 – You Only Feel Safe When You’re Struggling

You say you’re overwhelmed.Burnt out.Stretched thin.Again. But if we’re being real?You don’t just tolerate the struggle—You need it. You’ve made struggle your baseline.Your identity.Your nervous system doesn’t feel calm unless it’s in crisis. You don’t feel safe when things are easy.You feel suspicious.Like something’s wrong.Like the floor’s about to drop.So you run harder.You load your

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Close-up black and white portrait highlighting a scarred face with a moody, cinematic atmosphere.

Deep Cut #11 – You Call It a Standard, But It’s Just a Scar

You say you’ve got high standards.Cool. But let’s look closer—Are those standards?Or just defense mechanismsin a tux? You’re not protecting your worth.You’re protecting your wound. You say, “I don’t tolerate bullshit.”But really—you just can’t tolerate intimacy.You say, “I have boundaries.”But really—you’re just scared of being seen. That isn’t self-respect.It’s emotional armor.Customized.Polished.Passed off as healed. You

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Black and white portrait of a person covering their face with a beanie in a moody atmosphere.

Deep Cut #10 – You’re Not Healing, You’re Hiding

You talk about growth.You journal.You meditate.You go to therapy.You do the “work.” But let’s be honest—you’re not healing.You’re hiding. You turned your paininto a project.You made self-discoverya distraction.You weaponized introspectionso you could avoid actually living. Now you know all your patterns.You’ve named your wounds.You’ve categorized your trauma.And you’re still stuck. Because naming the woundis not

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Deep Cut #9 – Stillness Feels Like Danger

You say you want peace.But the moment you get it—you itch. You scroll.You snack.You clean.You sabotage. Anything but sit still.Because stillness feels like death.Not the physical kind—The kind where you have to feel everything you’ve been outrunning. Stillness isn’t your problem.It’s your trigger. Because the second the noise dies,your ghosts get loud.And you don’t want

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A young man in pajamas holding his head, sitting on a bed, appears to be experiencing a headache.

Deep Cut #8 – You’re Loyal to the Pain That Built You

You’re not stuck.You’re loyal. Loyal to the voice that broke you.Loyal to the version of you that was always on edge.Loyal to the pattern that felt like lovebecause pain was the first place you were seen. You keep choosing what hurt youbecause it’s what shaped you.You confuse survivalwith personality.You mistake traumafor identity. And now?You defend

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Deep Cut #7 – You’re Addicted to Certainty

You say you want peace.But what you really want…is control. You crave predictability.You worship the routine.You try to calculate every outcomelike life is a spreadsheetinstead of a storm. You’re not calm.You’re controlled.Big difference. You don’t feel safe.You feel in charge.And the moment you’re not?Panic.Doubt.Spiral. Because you’ve built your identityon knowing. But here’s the truth—Knowing is

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Woman lying under a blanket with a moody expression in a dimly-lit bedroom.

Deep Cut #6 – The Lie You Tell Yourself Daily

Every day you wake upand whisper a lieso quiet,you don’t even notice it anymore. “I’m fine.”“I’ll do it tomorrow.”“This is just who I am.”“No one would understand.”“It’s too late.” That lie?It’s not words.It’s a habit.A rhythm.A mask that grew skin. You’ve told it so many times,you started believing it.Now it speaks for you.Decides for you.Lives

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Deep Cut #4 – You’re Not Tired, You’re Unlived

You keep saying you’re tired.But you’ve slept.You’ve rested.You’ve backed off, slowed down, taken breaks. Still tired. Maybe you’re not tired.Maybe you’re unlived. There’s a kind of fatigue that no nap fixes.It comes from being stuck in a version of youthat’s too quiet,too polite,too afraid to exist fully. It’s not burnout.It’s backlog. Backlog of truth you

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