Talking is something that all of us know the meaning of, but are unable to really do because of the fear of being embarrassed or judged or taken advantage of, which I honestly think is not a wrong notion. This world is filled with people who are too quick to judge or form preconceived notions about somebody at first sight. This world is filled with differences, yet people demean you for not existing like them. The moment they realize that there's a minor difference between you and them, they come up with unnecessary, unsolicited advice that has got nothing to do with your situation. One major example of such a situation is when you are suffering from mental health issues.

This world is an epitome of hypocrisy; they advocate the significance of mental health on social media, but the moment they find out that you are depressed, instead of empathizing with you, they tell you to cheer up because others are going through worse problems than you. This statement is as illogical as suggesting someone to not be happy because others are happier than them. That is the main reason why people with actual mental health issues get neglected—because they are scared.

I was scared too, until I realized that talking about it is not only the bravest thing to do but also something that would definitely help others who might be enduring the same problems and are scared of coming across as weird. You see, we are all meant to be different, and we are all different in some way or the other, but the insurmountable lack of self-awareness leads to conflict, and the real issues remain unaddressed. This is the reality.

Let's take the example of someone eating with their hands instead of using spoons, along with friends who are habituated to using spoons while eating. Now, he gets offended when his friends ask why he eats with his hands, when in reality, they enquired out of genuine curiosity. Or consider another situation where he is genuinely explaining why he likes to eat with his hands, but his friends consider him stupid because that is not how they eat or another situation where his friends sit with the ones who use their hands while eating and eventually, his friends get trolled for being different. The gap created due to the lack of understanding and self-awareness leads to conflicts and bloodshed in every aspect of life. From religious, linguistic, cultural, racial to gender, sexual diversity and differences, you’ll observe how adults act like children because they are hell-bent on not accepting the slightest difference, something that is the basic essence of life. People like perfection, but they can never be perfect. People like those whose thoughts align with theirs, but they never make the effort to understand what others are going through. People like beauty, but they forget that beauty is all about imperfections. People like people, but they actually never do.

Therefore, I am going to do what this world considers a taboo and is scared to do: TALK. I will talk about the things that I was always scared to express, including my past, present, confusion, issues, body image anxiety, depression, eating disorder, bewilderment, etc. I believe that there are no good poetries or bad poetries.There are some poems that many people can relate to, and others that only a few are able to resonate with. This difference doesn’t diminish the value of any poem. Therefore, I don’t care if it’s considered good, bad, weird, or different, all I am going to do is just write carefreely. I am not going to provide you with philosophical principles since I am just twenty years old and still have a lot of figuring out to do. But while doing so, I can talk about the things that people don’t talk about enough so that even if there’s one person who comes across this and finds solace in realizing that they are not alone, it would be more than enough for me.

There are many philosophical books to guide you, but there are rarely any books that actually put forth the dark side the way it is without trying to sugarcoat it. I always used to wonder how people manage through this, and if they do, why they are not expressing it, because I desperately wish that I had somebody to tell me in my childhood days that I was not alone and that I didn’t have to try hard to fit in. Only if they talked about it enough, I might not have wasted my teenage years surrounded in self sabotaging thoughts. So, stay tuned as I prepare to share the first page of the topic, “Starting In Confusion Just Like You...”

#MentalHealth #EatingDisorder #Depression #bodyimageanxiety #SocialAnxiety #teenagers