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I said, and I said — again and again, "This world is a lie. Don't get stuck pretending to be what you aren't."

I said, and I said — again and again, "Once you slip, it's hard to stand. Surely you don't wanna fall that deep just to pretend."

I said, and I said — again and again, "Be you, as you are. No need to impress the ones who aren't."

I said, and I said — again and again. But you didn't listen. How foolish of you — to pretend you know how not to pretend.

As if pretending is the key to not pretend.

We all learn the art of pretending too early, how to smile through silence, how to seem fine while falling apart. But at some point, the act becomes the identity. And maybe the hardest thing isn't being real — it's unlearning who we thought we had to be.

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