I was sitting outside my college lecture in the hallway waiting for the professor to come in and unlock the door.

A rando professor I never talked to or met before comes walking by and as they pass me, they say out loud “you shouldn’t think too much, it’s not worth it” and as he finishes saying that, I realize he’s talking to me and look at him. Our eyes make contact briefly as he’s walking but then he just turns forward going primus knows where down the hall.

I was so dumbstruck, didn’t know what to say. I was already feeling like shit that day and that honestly both made me feel worse but also made me feel seen. Nobody has ever really cared enough to call me out like that and so that memory has always lived rent free in my head.

Suffice to say, I didn’t take the dude’s advice. As an introvert, I think I do internalize a bit much to the point where it feels like I’m suffocating, but I try not to let my anxiety take over all the time.