Not Always Available

No, I can’t always reply.

Not because I don’t want to,

but because I have a life

that doesn’t fit inside a screen.

My phone is not my oxygen.

I don’t breathe notifications,

I don’t feed on messages,

I don’t exist in an “online” status.

I am a person,

not a reflection trapped in glass.

Being an adult

is not being available 24/7,

it’s working, resting, thinking,

feeling without having to report it.

It’s choosing silence

without guilt.

The real world doesn’t vibrate in your pocket:

it beats in the body,

in the exhaustion,

in the responsibilities

no one sees behind a “why didn’t you reply?”

I’m not a parasite of my phone.

I don’t depend on it to exist.

If I don’t respond,

it’s not disinterest,

it’s life.

And if that bothers you,

maybe the problem

isn’t my absence…

but your constant need

for someone to always be there.

@newgirldark

New Girl Dark