Post Breakup Amusement

The morning when I turned on my phone.

A message arrived, that gentle gust from the past, “Still want to tell you happy graduation! 🎉” it whispered.

That was the moment when I came face to face with the reality that my emotional journey of moving on was far from complete. I couldn’t stop but guess the intention behind sending it. After all, she had explicitly requested that I shouldn’t text her anymore, but she was the one who sent me now. Does it mean she is still missing me? Or is she so over me that she is ready to befriend me again?

A flood of inquiries inundated my mind. How should I respond? Should I even reply? How can I seek attention to console my emotional loss? And if it turned out that she had sent the message from a place of detachment, doesn’t that sound so stupid of me to make this move? I couldn’t help but feel like a teenager who treasures the most trivial message from a crush, even if the text doesn’t mean much to the sender.

The entire day I felt restless and anxious. It was as if the currents of doubt and hope converged, interweaving their intricate dance within me. My mind traveled to a different parallel universe, imagining all the potential we could have or what might happen in the future.

Let’s pause the story here and zoom out a little bit more. If you look at the text again, you will realize if the text isn’t sent by an ex-lover but by anyone else, no one will pay attention to this generic message. NO ONE. Happy graduation? Sure thing! See you next time! It’s ironically funny because, in my real life, I remain largely indifferent to the messages and words people throw my way, even when they express dislike for me. I simply do not care.

Yet, now I find myself stumbling upon a seemingly inconsequential “happy graduation” message. I declare this as the most powerful, influential, transformative happy graduation message I’ve ever received in my life. Its unwavering influence stretches far beyond the realm of conventional well-wishes, encapsulating the vast expanse of my imagination.

To this second, I still haven’t wrapped my mind around how to respond. But I find great amusement that once in my lifetime, my mind can be simply manipulated by a mere “happy graduation” message.

This is the 8th post from my 30-day writing challenges. I was inspired by Tung Nguyen, a friend who is a famous blogger. He overcame the fear of creation through mass-producing blogs and eventually found his own niche audiences.