The following poem is inspired by the game We’re Not Really Strangers, a card game dedicated to bringing people closer by asking deeper questions. I asked some of my closest friends and family members to answer three questions anonymously, in hopes of showing that we don’t know what goes on in people’s minds, even those closest to us.
What is one thing about yourself that you’re scared to let other people know?
I truly think I will always be alone,
I convince myself that no one actually likes me
and that I feel super annoying to anybody around me.
I’m actually super insecure.
I have no idea what I’m doing most of the time
and when I look in a mirror, I don’t like what I see.
I struggle with anxiety daily
and take anxiety medication
and don’t want people to look at me differently
than they currently view me.
How can you become a better person?
Volunteer more often.
Be nicer to people.
Be less needy.
Talking less and listening more.
Giving people more grace when they don’t meet my expectations.
I can stop letting anger build up until I explode
and putting my energy into things that make me happy.
If I stop caring what people think of me so much
and be more motivated to take better care of my health,
I think I can become a better version of myself.
How are you, really?
Emotionally drained.
I’m struggling,
but I feel like I have to show everyone that I’m doing great
but it’s hard to continue smiling everyday.
Honestly, it’s a different feeling every minute
but ask me again tomorrow and it might be something different.
Hanging on.
Hanging in there, just lonely.
Holding it together but taking things day by day.
Just thinking about what would’ve happened if
I had said what I wanted to.
I try to feel nothing.
I am only living to make other people okay,
how I am doesn’t matter.
Writer To Writer Literary Journal 