It's as if everything that brings me lightness in the immediate is subsequently replaced by a feeling of heaviness: the spontaneity of small talk leaves me drained once it's over, the light-heartedness of an occasional flirt then leaves me tangled up in thousands of heavy thoughts, the sense of freedom of a one-night stands then brings me a sense of emptiness the morning after. It's a bit like the melancholic feeling you have when summer is coming to an end or the feeling at the end of a party when everyone leaves and you stay there to clean up. When the lightness ends, the heaviness takes over. I wonder: are these really the things that lighten the burden of life? It seems to me that at the end of the day these things also make my life heavier. Or maybe it's my fault for not being able to tolerate the difference between moments of lightness and those of real life. Still, I think that lightness can also be found in serious things. In the deep chat with a friend who then leaves you energised, in a tiring but satisfying day at work, in stopping everything and going for a walk, in cycling around the city at night with headphones in your ears. Maybe this is it. We should stop equating the idea of lightness with that of euphoria. Because in the end, the summer season or a party are not only moments of lightness but also of extreme joy. When they end, perhaps it is normal that they bring melancholy. Lightness, on the other hand, does not have to be something extraordinary. So maybe we should stop saying "come on, be more lighthearted: go to that party, have sex with that person" but maybe it would be better to say "stop. Find lightness within the little things that bring you back to a feeling of balance".

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