EVERYTHING ENDS UP IN METAPHORS

METAPHOR #2

It's about survival. Maybe, everything we do, turns out to be about survival. Because, when it all comes crashing down, humans are social beings and we depend on eachother in order to live. And to survive, we'd do just about everything.

Humans walk in crowds. Like a pack of wolfs or a pride of lions, we don't go alone, for too long. We can't handle it. So, when someone turns away from a crowd, when someone chooses to walk alone, it's no wonder ,sometimes that same crowd that was comforting, turns against them. I mean, I get it. From their point of view, that individual denied them; rejected them. That's got to hurt. So, where's the harm in denying that individual back?

But the thing is, I also understand choosing to walk alone. And, well, when you choose that road, it can get lonely. Scratch that, it does get lonely. Especially when you keep choosing that road. And you feel everything. You feel the absence of people; you miss connecting. And it's only downhill from there - you miss stupid little things like, smiling at strangers or laughing at a joke in a group. You miss catching someone's eye and communicating with no words at all. You miss just being near another human being. Their voice. But most of all, you miss touch.

Everything changes when you decide to be alone. And at first, it hurts. More than anything, more than ever before, you start to see why people need people. You feel and act like an addict in withdrawl. You'd do everything for just one fix. One sip, one whif of smoke. And it doesn't really get better. You are tempted over and over again.

But, something else happens, when you make that decision. That loneliness grows into comfort. You shed the skin that needed the crowds and grow a skin that can be alone. A skin that can be comfortable alone. You learn who you are, you learn how to love yourself, how to be at peice. And it feels liberating. Because now you're okay being by yourself and people turn into something scary and unpredictable. Dangerous, even. And you no longer want or feel the need to deal with them.

Excpet, that loneliness never actually leaves. And you feel it again, when you see a couple, a friend group, a family. If you're alone you can be happy. Safe. But it only takes a group of humans to want to relapse. To feel that annoying need to talk to someone. To crave it. And it hurts again.

Here's the thing. When that happens, when loneliness makes you feel again, your mind is clear about what it needs. Your mind knows its best to be alone; knows you thrive when alone. But your body - your body is touch-starved. It craves fingers intertwining with yours. It demands arms wrapping around your torso as tightly as possible. Your body wants forhead kisses, lips colliding, theeth scraping your neck, slightly biting. Anything that could be translated as love.

So, you're constantly at war. Fighting to stay alive. To not relapse. Holding onto every straw you find, like its life or death. Because it all comes down to survival.

If you want to walk alone, you need to be ready for demands. For war. Because in the end, humans are social beings.