<p>It's surprising how we can go from laughing and having the best time to suddenly going quiet.</p><p></p><p>Heads bent over our phones, seeking comfort.</p><p></p><p>I could be laughing this minute and, all of a sudden, want to be alone.</p><p></p><p>I could be dancing and vibing, and the next minute I just want everyone to leave me alone.</p><p></p><p>Everyone experiences mood swings at some point.</p><p></p><p>It's said some are triggered by stress, heartbreak, anxiety, grief...</p><p></p><p>I honestly don't know where I belong.</p><p></p><p><em>How do I explain that I want attention but, at the same time, I want distance?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>How do I explain that I love you loudly... but not all the time?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>How do I explain that my mood can remain the same for four hours and still change within five minutes?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p>Sometimes life hits you so hard that it feels like you need a new pair of lenses. </p><p></p><p>You can't do anything but just... Exist.</p><p></p><p>Sigh.</p><p></p><p>Somebody stopped posting for a while, and you concluded,</p><p></p><p>"They're just trying to act mature."</p><p></p><p>But if you were to walk a mile in their shoes, I'm not sure they'd even fit.</p><p></p><p>I once read about a girl who constantly posted her flashy lifestyle online. To everybody watching, she looked like someone who had life all figured out.</p><p></p><p>Then one day, people noticed she stopped posting for almost 2 weeks.</p><p></p><p>Since she belonged to this community where people genuinely checked up on one another and y'know connect, after some days of hearing nothing from her, they decided to visit.</p><p></p><p>And then...</p><p></p><p>They found her dead. Her corpse was what welcomed them.</p><p></p><p><sup>She had taken her own life.</sup></p><p><sup></sup></p><p>How does the dead explain that they weren't ignoring you?</p><p></p><p>That life had been torturing them behind those smiling pictures?</p><p></p><p>How does someone rise from the dead just to tell you they were only a shadow walking through life, not the happy person social media convinced you they were?</p><p><img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/bb17d05b733c8e39c021bf8fa38148a6.jpg" style="background-color: transparent;"/></p><p>How well do we really know the people around us?</p><p></p><p><sub>Or are we simply living on assumptions?</sub></p><p><sub></sub></p><p>Maybe they didn't want to burden you with their feelings.</p><p></p><p>Maybe they thought you'd call them childish.</p><p></p><p>Maybe they'd be seen as weird.</p><p></p><p>Or immature and too much.</p><p></p><p>At the end of the day, all we truly have is ourselves.</p><p></p><p>People often say we should fall in love with ourselves.</p><p></p><p>Now it almost feels like everyone is so busy loving themselves that empathy is slowly disappearing.</p><p></p><p>No more genuine concern.</p><p></p><p>No more sincere feelings.</p><p></p><p>Just nonchalance.</p><p></p><p>Just pretence.</p><p></p><p>That friend you're constantly pressuring might be battling depression.</p><p></p><p><img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/9e11fe7ef87c186121782a2d24412a55.jpg"/>The friend you're always judging for "not getting it right" may have spent years being bullied.</p><p></p><p>The child you keep yelling at might secretly hate themselves.</p><p></p><p>The friend who suddenly became distant may have simply overthought the relationship and how emotionally invested they had become.</p><p></p><p>People don't just become cold overnight.</p><p></p><p>With the little knowledge of psychology I've gained, I've come to understand that people can change.</p><p></p><p>They can change when they're deeply loved.</p><p></p><p>They can change when they're lonely.</p><p></p><p>They can change when they feel unloved.</p><p></p><p>They can even change when they feel misunderstood.</p><p></p><p>We sometimes underestimate the human mind and how quickly it gathers incomplete information, then presents it as fact.</p><p></p><p>Sometimes all it takes is communication.</p><p></p><p>Other times, understanding.</p><p></p><p>And sometimes... simply letting someone know,</p><p></p><p>"I see you."</p><p></p><p>And that brings me to these thoughts.</p><p></p><p>What if it isn't actually mood swings?</p><p></p><p>What if it's fear?</p><p></p><p>Fear of attachment.</p><p></p><p>Fear of rejection.</p><p></p><p>Fear of loneliness.</p><p></p><p>FOMO.</p><p></p><p>Sometimes those fears become so overwhelming that a person simply goes numb.</p><p></p><p>Emotionless.</p><p></p><p>Detached.</p><p></p><p>Convincing themselves they don't need anyone.</p><p></p><p>And so they withdraw.</p><p></p><p>They create distance.</p><p></p><p>Then come the intrusive thoughts.</p><p></p><p>What if they change later?</p><p><img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/bd0099718702a5056a70178b265f188e.jpg" style="background-color: transparent;"/></p><p>What if everything they're showing me is just another performance?</p><p></p><p>It's almost as if my mind keeps searching for answers to questions I asked long before I even got to know them.</p><p></p><p>Perhaps this person will leave too, just like the rest.</p><p></p><p>But when they stay a little longer...</p><p></p><p>Something unsettles inside me.</p><p></p><p>Then I begin to wonder if I should push them away first.</p><p></p><p>Maybe if they stop liking me, my mind will finally get the proof it has been searching for.</p><p></p><p>Maybe I'm overthinking.</p><p></p><p>Maybe I'm going crazy.</p><p></p><p>Or maybe...</p><p></p><p>I'm just human.</p><p></p><p>I know mood swings are valid.</p><p></p><p>But I have a feeling mine are a little different.</p><p></p><p>Still, I hope I meet those genuine souls who understand me...</p><p></p><p>And this time,</p><p></p><p>I hope...I really hope I don't chase them away.</p><p></p>