The below is a super short mini-story that just came into my head. I wanted it to make us question if we are being sincere with the people in our lives or if we only act like we care. And then on the flip side, if we actually want to let people in, or if we hold this shield up to the world, which both protects and blocks... And then say no one cares, when we haven't given them the opportunity to.

"Are you OK?," they ask. "Yeah, definitely!," I answer.

Wow it's become so easy for me to lie. It hasn't always been this easy. I guess I've changed me more than I thought.. I wonder if they notice. I hope not, then I'll have to explain, and that will be too much.

"Hey how's it going?," they wonder. "You know, its going!," I respond.

Why can't I just be honest? Just say "It's actually going pretty bad, thanks for asking." They wouldn't care anyways. They're only asking to be polite. To save face and act like they care. No maybe some do care, and I'm just not letting them in.

"What's up? How have you been lately?," they question. "Pretty good, can't complain!," I exclaim.

If I would just open up, then maybe someone could help. Maybe they've been through this before. No, I can't burden them with this.. I'll just keep ignoring it and I'm sure it will go away someday, even if it takes years.

"Hey, are you doing ok?," they ask. "I'm not sure yet. But I'm getting there." I say. "You wanna talk about it?," they respond. "Yeah I would actually.," I say relieved.