Because it's winter, and I'm discontented, wow, how totally clever am I?
I know I said no more grossness, but I'm going to be gross, and I don't really care. But you might, so I would advise you to keep your caution about you at this point.
Yesterday, the housing office, in their infinite wisdom, decided that I'd been getting a free pass for long enough, and assigned me a new roommate to take Melissa's place. Her name is Georgia, and she's moving in sometime this week. I know it shouldn't be such a big deal, and I'm totally over-reacting, but I honestly thought of jumping in front of a bus just so I wouldn't have to deal with this. It's bad enough to have to share a space in general, but on those days when human contact feels like acid (which, sadly, are becoming more and more common), it's next door to unbearable. Even Melissa, who shares my introversion, was sometimes almost more than I could take, so how am I going to manage with a complete (and seemingly chatty) stranger? I wish I could be normal. Why can't I be normal? It seems to me that every other person on this earth is better with people than I am. Sure, you can cite the awkward rejects of society who congregate on tumblr, but they all have internet friends, don't they (and probably several very close friends in their general vicinity, because every awkward person I've ever met had a rather sizable awkward IRL clique), and they think nothing of contacting random people all across the internet and befriending them. I can't even do that. It's gotten so that I do a mental double take every time I hear myself having a conversation with someone, because it's that infrequent. Really, I'm starting to think that I wasn't built for real life. I should be locked in a library somewhere, alone with my literature and syntax, not bothering anyone, and not trying to fake my way through a life for which I wasn't made. Wouldn't that be better? But it's anachronistic to be a recluse now. Everyone is meant to interact with other people, perfectly, without any anxiety or trouble, and since I can't seem to do that, perhaps I shouldn't be alive. Aristotle said that without friends, no one would choose to live, even if he had everything else (I paraphrase), and if we can't trust one of the greatest thinkers in the world, I don't know to whom we're going to turn. I don't have anyone who cares about me, not really, so why am I here? Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But let's be real here– who would even notice if I spontaneously combusted one day? My family would, after awhile, and yes, they'd be sad, but in the end, I think they'd be better off without me. I'm the requisite failure; I've always been so, and I'm really damn expensive too. So even if they don't see it, I know it would advantage them to be rid of me. Austin would notice, I suppose, though how he'd get wind of my death, I have no idea. But I think he'd be better off without me too. And my friends? I never see any of them in real life (unless you want to count Opera Boy and Orchestra Boy and Melissa) (though I don't really see any of them either), so I'm sure it would just be easy-come-easy-go on that front. There's no one who would be impacted by my death, no one at all, and if that's not a disheartening thought, I don't know what is. I was thinking about buying a little potted plant, so I could have an excuse to stay alive for someone's (something's?) sake, but I don't think the dorm allows them, and besides, I would have no way of taking it home, so it would die during the summer, and I would have done more harm than good in the world. Honestly, how pathetic is that? You can talk all you want about ripple effects, but while everyone else is out splashing about in the pond, I'm lying on the bank in the fetal position trying to get up the energy to eat. I don't even know if one could count what I'm doing as living. Actually, no, I don't think one can. I'm just watching life go past, and I don't even know why. I'm supposed to be smart; why can't I figure out how to function like a normal individual? I don't think I'm ever going to amount to anything, ever. I have my ambitions, of course, those haven't changed, but let's be real here, I'll never achieve them. Tell me, what kind of sophisticate starves herself because she's too afraid to go get food in public, and what kind of lawyer wastes hours curled up in a ball, shaking and crying and wishing for death, and what kind of Supreme Court justice accepts lower grades than she should because she feels physically incapable of speaking up? It's so unrealistic of me to dream of these things. It will be a miracle if I get any job at all, ever. What's the matter with me, anyway? My life is fine, albeit lonely, and I haven't any of the severe troubles that so many other people do. All things being equal, I don't deserve to feel this way. But I do, sad and pathetic creature that I am, which makes me ashamed of myself, which makes me feel even worse, and then the cycle just perpetuates in a never-ending spiral of misery and guilt. Oh, what wouldn't I give to be normal! It must be so wonderful to walk around carefree all the time, without any trace of fear. Ordering food? No problem! Meeting new people? Delightful! Shouting out the answer in class, even though you're not completely sure it's the right one? No question about it! Life must be so beautifully simple and clean. There are no abstract mental rules to follow, no complicated patterns to remember, and no insurmountable obstacles anywhere. I can't imagine living without constantly feeling ashamed or afraid (or both), but some people do, and I think they must be the luckiest people in the world. The closest I ever get to that is during my classes, and that's pretty sad, I know. I'm pretty sad. I will never be anything, not to me, not to anyone, and not to the world. Which makes me wonder why I'm here. Isn't it sophomoric to have an existential crisis? But I really do wonder about my purpose in life often. Could it be that I don't have one? I believe everyone does– or at least I think I do– but it would be more than believable for me to be the only one who doesn't. It's always been that way, after all. So, that leads us back to the old familiar query: Shouldn't I just die? No, don't answer that. I think I know. But I'm selfish and disgusting, and I never did anything right, and I think I know that I'm not going to go gentle into that good night. Isn't that pathetic, just talking and never doing? I'm as fake as they come. Contemn me all you want, though, and it will be to no avail; no one's opinion of me could ever be worse than my own. However, that's the last I'm going to show that opinion for awhile. I'm no exhibitionist, and I'm still hoping that if I pretend everything's fine, it will be. And it will be. You'll see.
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