I don't even know why I’m writing this, you know? Like, it feels a little… pathetic? But it’s 2 AM and my brain won't shut up about it. Today, for example. I spent, like, a solid eight hours in that coworking space. The big one downtown, all the plants and the fancy coffee machines. Surrounded by people, literally shoulder-to-shoulder at points. And I didn't say a single word. To anyone. Not even to order coffee, I just used the app. And it wasn't like, a choice? Or, like, a protest. It just… happened. Again. This happens a lot now, where I just… exist silently. It’s not social anxiety, I don’t think? I used to be, like, super outgoing. The life of the party, even. But now it’s like this default mode. Mute. And the weirdest part is, I didn’t *want* to talk. I mean, I did, kind of? Like, when someone laughed near me, I thought for a second, "Oh, I should laugh too, or make a comment." But then it just… faded. The urge. And I just kept designing, you know, my little UI elements, moving pixels around. Nobody even noticed. Or if they did, they didn't care. Which, is fine, I guess. That’s the point of a coworking space, right? To work. But there’s this… internal dissonance? Like, part of me is screaming, "HELLO? Is anyone home?" while the other part is perfectly content to just be a ghost. A highly productive, billable ghost. It's not even about work. It’s like this pervasive… quietness that's crept into everything. My partner will ask me about my day and I’ll just give, like, the bare minimum. "Fine. Busy." Because to articulate what *that* felt like, that total non-interaction, it just feels… too much. Or too little. Like, is there something wrong with me? Am I just… isolating myself without realizing it? Because I don't feel sad, not exactly. More like… adrift. Or maybe disengaged. It's not a bad thing, necessarily, but it feels like a symptom of something, you know? Like a precursor to some bigger… thing. And everyone around me is getting promoted, or engaged, or having kids, and I’m just here, in the quiet, watching it all. And not saying a word.