I nearly answered honestly and then got tired

Dear Delyara, Someone asked me how I was, and for a second I almost told the truth. But the truth felt heavy and layered and too much to unpack properly in a passing moment, so I gave the smaller answer instead. “Just tired.” “Long day.” Something simple. Something socially efficient. I do this all the time. Reduce. Compress. Translate. Make the feeling smaller so I don’t have to manage what happens in the room if I say the real thing. And then afterward, I feel lonely in a way I helped create. That’s the painful part.