hey there, how are ya?

I'm doing ok.

Is it a lie to say that? Maybe a white lie - just to smooth over the conversation and the rough edges. More often then not, people don't want to have the entire contents of the mind that are troubling dumped upon them from a simple question. They want to hear that all is well and there is nothing to disturb them.

Keeping the eyes from watering, the voice even and the vocabulary bland and non-committal. All this to hide the seething well of emotions that threaten to burst forth and express how we really feel.

I've built walls, a fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
...
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me

(from I am a Rock by Simon and Garfunkel)

And so we say that we're ok, that everything is alright, that we are doing fine. Sometimes they understand what is being said and what is not, because everything is ok with them too.

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