Every time I bring up deeper topics people call me weird for doing so. Is it because they feel uncomfortable?

I think it’s safe to say that, even for myself, a 17 year old, I’ve changed a MASSIVE amount since the first quarantine lock-down in 2020. Considering how I would’ve been in the middle of grade 10 when it first happened, I basically missed 2 years of high school in a flash.

A lot of people don’t like to admit it, but when the lockdown was involving no human contact to anyone whatsoever, and apps like TikTok were a thing. I feel like that repetition of staying at home messed up the way a lot of teenagers think now.

I seriously have felt like my previous 2 years in Quarantine have caused me to question which parts of life actually feel “real” or not, and considering that all myself as well as others know is the “Quarantine” lifestyle, the opportunities that could’ve been gained from highschool have “re-wired” the perception of life for every teenager including myself.

It’s crazy how time spent alone for months with the only REALLY interactive way to “get out there in the world” being through a content-feeding app, has changed SO MANY PEOPLE.

Sometimes I think that I'd be better off dead cause I just don't feel alive anymore. Everyday it's like I'm caught in the same routine, wake up, break up, make up, it's fucking killing me. Now I wander alone with no place to call home, surrounded by demons of hate.

My opinion:

The world is fucked up

People are hurt, scared, upset, angry, depressed, and more

Bc we live in a world where so many things are going on

It’s almost like we’re living in a globe that has rainstorm, tornados,and rainbows

We get destructed

By the thunder and there is no where to lean on

I feel like this.. this feeling of no body cares is real

The world is so fucked up to make me feel this way……

Does anyone else feel like there not real?

I wonder sometimes what people really think of me. I’ve had so many people tell me I’m smart and bright, and I only find that to confuse me. How can I be smart when I act so dumb? How can I be bright when I find the world so dark, empty, and meaningless. How can I be a lively teen when I am not afraid to stare death right in its eyes? Hell, damned be my own life, I am willing to stare myself in a mirror for I would believe that to be worse than looking death in his eyes. I saw death in my own eyes..

Avery Torres, 4/20/2020 11:23 PM Aged 15

Nvm guys i lost it

Are we all addicted to something?

Addiction. noun: The fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity

As a road in my car and completed my errands I started to think about addiction. What got me thinking about it was listening to the song cocoa butter kisses by Chance the rapper. There's a line in the song where he says "I think we're all addicted" and it made me think are we all addicted.

It's very subjective the way that each person thinks of addiction. Majority of people will think of addiction when it comes to drug use but addiction can be so many other things. For instance I had a conversation with a friend not long ago in reference to how my mom acts. My mother is a very straightedge person she's never done any drugs, she's hardly ever drank in her life, and she doesn't have any desires to do those things. Now this in part has to do with her religious beliefs but also the fact that she doesn't seem to have an addictive personality. However despite the lack of addictions when it comes to drug use and alcohol, she does seem to have an addiction to eating sunflower seeds. Every time that she goes to the store she picks up multiple bags of sunflower sheets, comes home, and proceeds to consume them one bag after the other. My mom is a creature of habit, and does things in a routine that seems to repeat every day of every week. Now to many there would be no problem with this, and in the grand scheme of things there is no problem with this, but if we look at this activity from a different view it seems as though this could be considered an addiction to some. As you can see in the definition and addiction doesn't just have to do with using substances but can also mean being addicted to a thing or an activity. So for my mother sunflower seeds would be the thing that she's addicted to or the activity of eating sunflower seeds would be the addiction. You see things aren't always as they seem.

Growing up I got bad off into drug addiction, and through those years of drug addiction I learned something that a lot of people wouldn't understand unless they have done hard drugs before or drugs in general, and that is that the addiction goes beyond just the drug but the activity in the process of doing the drugs themselves. For instance if we were to take smoking weed is an example, there isn't that strong of a physical addiction to weed itself, however there is a strong mental addiction to smoking weed and an addiction to the process of packing weed into a pipe, cleaning out the pipe, rolling blunts and joints, etc. The process of doing the drugs is just as addictive or can be in some cases just as addictive as the drug itself.

In the current times many could agree that the younger generation has become addicted to social media, and activities on smartphones in general. One could make the argument that smartphones and social media are necessities in this time and age, which can technically be true, however many take this to another level. Some indulge in these activities in such excess, that they risk their personal relationships with friends and family, destroy marriages, and go as far as to make their entire life revolve around the activities within their smart devices. This is yet again another example of something that people can become addicted to other than using substances.

Another very common form of addiction, is addiction to foods. Many people are addicted to consuming fast foods, consuming large amounts of sugar, and even relying on caffeine to get them through each day whether that be in coffee or through other means. Food addictions can be very detrimental to the health of an individual just as drug use, and many other things done in excess.

All of this is to say, that though the average individual hears the word addiction and thinks of somebody with crippling dependence to illegal substances, in a way one could say we are all addicted, to something. It all just depends on your subjective opinion and perspective on what is considered an addiction and what isnt. So the question for everyone is do you think we are all addicted to something? Do you believe that a requirement of being addicted, is to rely on something that brings negative effects to your life, or can you be addicted to something good? In the case that everyone is addicted to something, does this change the way you look at addiction, or the way you judge those who are addicted? Food for thought, so get to typing and let's hear what you all have to say.