Disclosure.

"I thought of ending sadness so many times and there's just too many alternatives but the only thing that makes sense was death. The death of me is the ultimate period, the game ender, the end-point of everything. Atleast, it was what I thought.

I started to do things to feel alive again. I went out with friends, wrote a lot of poems to feel occupied, watched different tv series to get by a lonely day, read a book I once judged by its cover, started talking to new people and I smiled more often this time. I sometimes doubt my progress and when I do it always feel like my reboot button was pushed and I'm back to zero.

The battle keeps on repeating like a cycle and this is where I started questioning myself, "Is this still worth the fight?" and I sat there staring blankly through the sky waiting for an answer to fall in my lap. I began to tire myself on purpose the next day, I knew it's the only way to stop feeling. I've done things to forget all the other things that hurt. I'm slowly creating my own little messed up world out of the chaos I'm already in. I wanted to stop feeling, stop caring too much, stop loving, stop everything all at once.

There will be a point where the thought of death would be more present than all of your friends. 3 AM, knocking on your door, it's the thought of death. I humbly let it in and what's worse is that I even made it comfortable to stay in my home— my mind rather for a couple of months and it wasn't the best of my days. All my happy days were over, I've gotten even more sad, I never tried seeking for help, I don't want to drag anyone with me as I fall. I don't want them to think I'm out of my mind. I don't want to hear the words, "You'll be fine." because it does not help and I knew I won't be fine for a while.

I kept it a secret. I didn't think they'd be helpful and also it's a fight that only I could conquer. I became my own soldier, my knight and shining whatever. I fought for my peace of mind, I fought the thought of death inside my head, I know there's more to life than letting it rip the soul out of me.

The cycle goes and I knew it had to stop at some point. I observed the way it affects me and I highlighted the parts where I used the muscles on my face to smile, I kept all the hurtful parts italicized and left the people who surrounded me on bold.

I thought of ending this cycle— the sadness, the thought of death and life itself but I failed. As much as I wanted to live a perfect life, there's no such thing. All you really have to do is to keep all the happy parts highlighted because in the end, this will all amount to nothing if you weren't happy surviving."
— Trixa Lei, A Cycle: The Period

Artwork by Nate Armstrong