The river flows, carrying the weight of every stone it has touched. Each memory, sharp or smooth, shapes its path, carving identity into the current. Yet as the river meets the ocean, those stones dissolve, their weight lifted, their edges softened. The ocean does not grieve the loss of a single drop; it expands, vast and unburdened, teaching us that release is not forgetting but freedom. Life is a delicate balance of holding on to what shapes us and letting go of what no longer serves us. What will you carry forward, and what will you release into the infinite?
To belong is a quiet longing within us, but what does it mean to belong to a society that thrives on flawed foundations? To conform to its norms is to inherit its contradictions. You walk its streets, speak its language, and share its customs, but at what cost to your ethics?
This is the tension between normalcy and moral integrity: the invisible thread pulling you toward acceptance while leaving your values frayed. Conformity is not neutral. It is a choice with consequences. And within this choice lies the cost of complicity.
