The Facade of Happiness
And sometimes you're beset by an awkward silence and no one mentions the elephant in the room
That is our facade of happiness.
You walk in the hallways and you see every face smiling and laughing,
Talking about some shallow detail that in five minutes they'll likely forget or deem not worthy to talk about,
It feels like a Coca-Cola or Sprite commercial where everyone's holding hands getting their daily dose of Vitamin D in the sun,
But unfortunately you only stare at them, and they're in. You're out.
You wonder why it seems like everyone is having the time of their lives yet all you can do is stare wonderingly,
Portraying the same apathetic and detached face whose mouth just won't open
Except on the occasions where you're taking pictures and you're donning a fake smile
So when you look back at your high school yearbook in 20 years, you can look back at the "best time of your life"
You adopt defense mechanisms for why you're so sad and everyone's so happy
You go on WebMD and browse every possible cause of your languor and depression, from mental disorders to neurological abnormalities
And you just can't bring yourself to be like everyone else, laughing at what you find shallow and meaningless and being positive despite everything
You feel guilty because you know there are probably millions out there that would kill for the life of luxury and privilege you have
But that doesn't make you feel any better
You adopt quick fixes in your thinking pattern that you find while googling your problems on yahoo answers or some random blog,
And you adopt changes for a day, and if you're lucky a week, but they never last or make any meaningful impact.
But you think you're somehow unique or cursed to feel this way when no one else around you seems to
And it's true, you probably can't fulfill the socially acceptable definition of happy or even stable that you see in everyone around you
But what you don't realize is that most of them can't either
A lot of the friends or acquaintances that are always smiling and laughing are putting on masks to distract themselves of their own problems too
They act shallow and fake to you because that's their way of coping with them
Because even acting happy for even one second makes them feel better at that moment
But they go home much like you, thinking the same nagging thoughts and being possessed by the same demons.
And sometimes you're beset by an awkward silence and no one mentions the elephant in the room
That is our facade of happiness.
