There’s a price we pay to keep our sanity…

… The price of a cigarette burning into our lungs, our minds wandering as the smoke curls up into half-seen ghosts before us.

… The price of mindless laughter, strained and mirthless, trying to fool ourselves and others that, in spite of everything, we ARE happy.

… The price of three cups of coffee, accompanying us in our caffeinated stupor of endless work and self-deception, telling ourselves that THIS is what is truly important.

… The price of half a day curled up in our beds, forcing ourselves to be dead to the world, wanting so much to escape into our dreams.

… The price of a song, sung in the complete silence of our minds, walled off from all the things that threaten to shatter us.

… The price of slowly falling tears, as we break our hearts letting go of unfulfilled dreams, and memories of what could have been…

Sanity… we pay for it with a part of our very selves… and never will we ever be the same again.