I have a lot of anxiety and mental health struggles and things

“I have a lot of anxiety and mental health struggles and things, as we all do. Sometimes, I would be so anxious and so hyper-aware, I would just create these scenarios in my head that were not actually happening, or I would read way too freaking deeply into things.” — Renee Rapp

Hear these words of Renee Rapp, singer and storyteller of the modern age, and recognize the echo of an eternal struggle — the battle within the mind. Her confession is not a weakness, but a mirror held before the soul of humankind. For since the dawn of thought, man has waged war not only with the world, but with the tempest that stirs inside him. Anxiety, that ancient shadow, walks beside every thinker, every dreamer, every heart that dares to feel too deeply. Rapp speaks not for herself alone, but for all who have ever been imprisoned by their own imagination — for all who have mistaken fear for truth and shadows for storms.

The ancients too knew this torment. The Stoic Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome and philosopher of calm, once wrote: “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” His words, carved in the wisdom of ages, reflect the same truth that Rapp gives voice to today. The mind, so powerful and divine, can become both protector and tormentor. It can forge peace or summon monsters from thin air. And when the heart trembles, the mind begins to spin false webs — weaving scenarios that are not actually happening, building worlds of worry that never come to pass. Thus, we are undone not by fate, but by the fictions of our own creation.

In Rapp’s confession, there is courage — the courage to speak of the unseen. The warriors of spirit are not those who never tremble, but those who dare to name their trembling aloud. For silence feeds the darkness, while speech draws it into light. She reminds us that to feel anxious is not a flaw; it is proof that one is alive, awake, and aware. But awareness without balance becomes a fire that devours itself. When one becomes hyper-aware, every word becomes a wound, every glance a judgment, every silence a threat. The soul loses peace not because the world is cruel, but because the mind has forgotten to rest.

Consider the story of Vincent van Gogh, painter of divine color and tortured heart. His art was a song of light and agony intertwined — every brushstroke both a cry and a prayer. He, too, lived in the realm of imagined storms, reading too deeply into every flicker of the world around him. His mind painted as fiercely as his hand, until the visions of his anxiety blurred with reality. Yet from his torment came beauty eternal. From his pain, a lesson: that the same imagination which can wound us can also heal us, if we learn to direct its fire toward creation instead of destruction.

Thus, the wisdom of Renee Rapp is not one of despair, but of awakening. She shows that awareness without compassion becomes a burden, but awareness guided by gentleness becomes strength. To the anxious soul, the challenge is not to silence the mind — for that is impossible — but to befriend it. Speak to your thoughts as you would to a frightened child: with patience, with humor, with love. Say to them, “I see you, but I do not believe you.” For the storms within pass more swiftly when they are met with understanding rather than resistance.

Let each reader take this lesson to heart: you are not your thoughts. The mind may conjure fears, but they are clouds, not mountains. When the fog rises, do not flee; stand and watch it drift. Breathe deeply, write your pain, sing your worry, speak it into the open air — for what is named loses its power. And remember always that every anxious heart, like Rapp’s, beats alongside countless others. You are never alone in your trembling; you are part of the great human chorus learning to turn fear into melody.

Therefore, O wanderer of the inner world, let this be your creed: do not believe every story your mind tells you. Anchor yourself in truth, in breath, in the solid earth beneath your feet. When imagination becomes your enemy, transform it into your ally. Create instead of collapse. Love instead of fear. And from the quiet of your own acceptance, you shall rise stronger — no longer lost in illusions, but walking in the clear light of peace. For as Renee Rapp has shown, even in the noise of the anxious heart, there lies the music of healing.