We crave depth.
We want someone to ask us how we really are, and actually care about the answer.
But no one wants to go first.
Because being the first to care makes you look weak.
Being the first to open up makes you look strange.
Being the first to stop performing makes you feel naked.
So we scroll.
We repost funny shit.
We talk about work, the weather, politics.
We fill the silence with noise, anything but ourselves.
And yet… every time I have a real conversation with someone, even a stranger, something shifts.
No phones. No performance. Just two people being human for once.
And I always walk away thinking:
Why isn’t this normal? Why do we keep avoiding the only thing that actually feels good?
No advice. Just something I needed to say out loud.