A Life Without a “Fave”　推しのいない人生

A Life Without a “FavRolemodel”　推しのいない人生

this fits better. you can also use "idol", but in japan this means like "singer" so

Since I was a child, I’ve never really had a “favrolemodel.” While my friends were obsessed with idols, actors, or even cartoon characters, I always watched from a bit of a distance.

HI thought having someone or something to be passionate about must make life sparkle a little more, I thought.

still makes sense either way, but this is more smooth. also i agree. when you have a crush, your life becomes more fun

But you can’t just decide to have a “favrolemodel.” It’s not something you can force.

I do have some actors and films I like, but I’ve never felt the urge to watch everything they’ve been in or memorize their lines.

But I’ve never felt the urge to watch everything they’ve been in or memorize their lines.

you can include this statement in the previous sentence.

I might follow them on social media, but I don’t feel compelled enough to keep up with every post.

Someone once told me that maybe I don’t have a “favrolemodel” because I’m already satisfied with my life.

But, I don’t really think that’s true either.

Still, maybe it’s not such a good thing to think “my life would be brighter if only I had a favrolemodel.” ¶
Maybe that mindset misses the whole point.

A Life Without a “Fave”　推しのいない人生

Since I was a child, I’ve never really had a “fave.” While my friends were obsessed with idols, actors, or even cartoon characters, I always watched from a bit of a distance.

HI thought that having someone or something to be passionate about must make life sparkle a little more, I thought.

The way I edited this sentence is just pure personal preference on my end; feel free to leave this as is if you want.

But you can’t just decide to have a “fave.” It’s not something you can force.

It’s something you encounter—, something like fate.

Honestly, this sentence could work with either the EN dash you had originally or the comma I replaced it with, but I think the EN dash adds more emphasis to the "something like fate" phrase.

It deepens empathy and affection, and it often leads to a surprising depth of knowledge in a specific field.

If you don't want to write "it" again, you can also delete the second "and" to write, "often leading to a surprising depth of knowledge in a specific field."

I just like them— in moderation.

Feel free to keep the EN dash if you really want to emphasize "in moderation," but otherwise, I think this sentence can work without it.

Someone once told me that maybe I don’t have a “fave” because I’m already satisfied with my life.

But I don’t really think that’s true, either.

Still, maybe it’s not such a good thing to think, “mMy life would be brighter if only I had a fave.” ¶
Maybe that mindset misses the whole point.

Since I was a child, I’ve never really had a “fav.” While my friends were obsessed with idols, actors, or even cartoon characters, I always watched from a bit of a distance.

"fav" is extremely casual, like something you'd use in a text message with a character limit, while the rest of this piece is not. "fave" would still be pretty casual but could fit better, but given the tone of the rest of the piece, I think "favourite" would fit best. However, all your examples are people and I "fav/fave/favourite" aren't exclusive for use with people.

I had a look at the original Japanese and see you're trying to translate 推し。

This is a little tricky to translate into English actually. The best English word for this I think in most contexts is actually "idol". This can be a little confusing if you know Japanese idol culture, but the word idol in English doesn't really exclusively mean idols in the Japanese sense, even if that's the most common context a Japanese person might encounter the English word idol (if you were to explain Japanese idols to an English speaker with no background knowledge, you'd probably call them "pop stars"). English speakers who are super into Japanese idol or vtuber cultures have actually adopted the word "oshi" back to English to avoid the confusion by the double meaning of "idol" in that context, but for most English speakers they're totally unaware of the Japanese meaning, so the only meaning of idol they know is the one that is like 推し

Since I was a child, I’ve never really had a “fav.” While my friends were obsessed with idols, actors, or even cartoon characters, I always watched from a bit of a distance. There was never someone I wanted to emulate.

I'm not sure if "fav" would be more akin to a role-model, someone to look up to, someone to emulate. You could clarify by adding that to your sentence.

But yYou can’t just decide to have a “fav,” though.” It’s not something you can force.

Starting that sentence with "But" works, however I believe this sentence flows a bit more naturally which is why I made the correction. You can also use "however" in place of "though."

It’s something you encounter—, something like fate.

You use many em-dashes ("–") throughout a small passage. That is a stylistic choice, and it makes the writing seem more 'academic' (an English class essay tone). That is fine, I just find that it comes across as strange since some of the other writing is seemingly less formal (inclusion of the word "fav," you just care without trying')

And I believe that kind of passion can help people grow.

You don't need the "and" because it's a separate thought and it's on a separate line.

For example, some people who got into anime or games ended up with an incredibly high level of Japaneseare deeply into Japanese culture, such as anime or certain video games, could end up learning how to speak Japanese extremely well.

When referring to people in the past tense ("some people who got into... ended up with...") reads as though you're referring to specific people or examples. The reason this reads a little strangely is that there is no personal or specific element. You could say, for example, "I've met people who, through their interest in anime and video games, ended up highly fluent in Japanese"

The prior sentence seems to refer the idea in a more general way, in which case your sentence could also be more general. That is the correction I chose to make. However, both of these sentences are valid and convey your idea correctly!

I do have some actors and films I like.

Original sentence works, but it's wordy. You could also say "There are some actors and films I like."

That being said, I would merge this and the next sentence into one.

But I’ve never felt the urge to watch everything they’ve been in or memorize their lines.

There is no need to really separate this sentence and the one above. You can put both into one sentence:

While I like certain actors and films, I've never had the urge to watch everything an actor has been in, or to memorize lines from a specific film.

I might follow themcertain celebrities on social media, but I don’t feel compelled to keep up with every post.

"Them" refers to only actors, but it seems like you're talking about more than just actors. "Celebrities" works as a catch-all term for anybody who's famous enough to be followed on social media, I think.

I just like them—in moderation. same things other people do, but I've never been obsessed.

This sentence seems to pull back from the specificity of talking about celebrities to your wider point about an unhealthy relationship with something or someone. That's why I changed "them" to "the same things other people do" -- it could refer to many, many things.

Furthermore, moderation is usually said in reference to a habit or an action that one does. It's usually an action or a habit that is unhealthy, too.

For ex., someone might drink alcohol in moderation. Or someone might eat fast food in moderation.

I wouldn't use this for a feeling or emotion, though. You can use it for actions: "I express my lover for her in moderation"

In general, saying you don't have strong emotions (in comparison to someone else) can look like:
- I like (pronoun or noun), but I'm not obsessed (like you/her/him/them)
- I like (pronoun or noun), but (it doesn't go that far / it isn't that intense / it's nothing crazy / not that much)
- I like (pronoun or noun) too, but not as much as (you/her/him/them)
- I like (pronoun or noun) a little / somewhat / a bit
An example sentence is: "I like Taylor Swift, but not as much as her fans. I'm not obsessed."

And if you want to use the word "moderation" (or, "moderate"):
- I like (pronoun or noun) moderately
- I enjoy (verb + noun or pronoun) in moderation
- I moderate my feelings towards/for (prounoun/noun) -- "moderate" in this case meaning you control your feelings or manage your feelings.
Example sentences are:
"I like her moderately" (this sounds weird, though. I wouldn't really use it unless you were trying to be a little funny or tongue-in-cheek, with a sense of irony because you actually like her a lot!)
"I enjoy watching anime in moderation"

But I don’t really think that’s true either. I spent a lot of time feeling unsatisfied with my life because I didn't have someone to look up to.

You don't need the but here, the fact that you say "I don't think that's true" is already enough of a negation/disagreement. The rest of the words are filler, which is fine in spoken English but in written English it comes across as unconfident in what you're saying or meandering (not getting to the point).

Furthermore, if you say "I don't think that's true" it could mean:
1. Having a fav doesn't mean you're not satisfied with your life, OR
2. You don't think you're satisfied with your life

This is fine because you opened your journal entry by saying you were envious of people having favourites. That clarifies that you're referring to the second. However, if you wanted to be even clearer you would say: "I think they were wrong, though. I

Still, maybe it’s not such a good thing to think “my life would be brighteMaybe that's not the right way to view it, though. I think it misses the whole point. People don't have a "fav" because they think it will make their lif only Ie better. They have hadve a "fav.” ¶
Maybe that mindset misses the whole point." because of their interests, because it's who they are. And it's okay that I don't have a "fav," too.

This sentence reads weirdly to me. You're sort of indicating you have recently come to the realization that thinking that way is unhealthy. I wouldn't use "Still" to open a sentence like that.

It's hard to know how distant you are from those feelings now. I cannot tell if part of you still thinks your life would be brighter with a fav. If so, you can say this: "Even now, I sometimes wish I had a fav. I can't force myself to have one though, and maybe it would be better to let go of it. And if, one day, I end up having a fav -- that's cool too."