LMAC Freestyle: A Mirror for the Cactus

Hello, Hivers! Hello LMAC Community!

It’s been four months since I last wrote here. Time flies, and without realizing it, I’ve drifted away from something that used to give me space to breathe, writing and sharing.

Today, I made a small but meaningful decision for myself, I took a day off from work. Lately, I’ve been feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. It’s hard to explain, but I know something isn’t right. I feel stuck in a suffocating routine, and the only way to cope is to pause and step back for a moment.

I guess this is what people call burnout.

I’ve started to lose my spark, my direction, and the colors that used to make life feel vibrant. Everything now feels dull, gray, and uninspiring. The same routine every day has become exhausting. Wake up, work, go home, sleep, repeat. At this point, I feel like I’m walking through a dry, endless desert, not knowing when or if I’ll find an oasis.

So here I am today, taking a moment to reflect and create something. In the collage I made, I portrayed a vast, barren land, an echo of what I’ve been feeling inside. I placed myself as a cactus, standing alone and looking at its reflection in a mirror. But in the mirror, the scenery is different: a colorful flower field. There, the cactus doesn’t quite belong. It stands beside a balloon, a fragile yet beautiful companion.

"A cactus doesn’t live in a flower field and befriend a balloon."

That sentence came to mind as a metaphor for how I feel, out of place, trying to fit in where I don’t quite belong. But maybe we’ve all been there at some point, feeling misplaced, yet still choosing to stay and figure it out.

I may not have all the answers right now. But I believe that giving ourselves space to feel, to rest, and to be honest with what we’re going through is a step toward healing. It might be slow, but it’s still a step forward.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Writing here and sharing with all of you always gives me a small sense of relief. This community feels like home, a place I can return to and simply be myself.

Until the next post. Hopefully, by then, I’ll be bringing a little more color with me.