things that make noises by Anika H. '26

march is a rough month. you are lost, not only in a pile of things to see and things to do, but probably also in a pile of emotions you can’t really identify. so here is a guide, for those lost.

this emotion is AAAAAAAAAAAAA. it’s the constant screeching noise in the back of your head you can’t really seem to get rid of. it gets in the way of your coherent thoughts and makes you lose focus. but sometimes, you just need to AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. if you AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, you’ll usually hear less AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA in your head.

this is fear. a close cousin to anxiety, but not quite the same. it’s experienced in shorter, more intense bursts, and is often in reaction to something tangible, like a flying cockroach, or disapproval from others. fear was developed for survival and may trigger strong reactions, though it’s results vary from person to person. your body will respond to fear. this is known as a fight or flight reaction: your heart rate increases, your breathing increases, and digestion and other normal processes slow.

this is anxiety, often a derivative of fear. you may or may not know what is about to happen, whether you experience a presumed impending doom, or an unknown. you may not be able to deal with it right now, or you may not be able to control an outcome. and that’s okay. time will flow, a curse it may be, but it will bring you somewhere. you might have to tools to ease your situation, but maybe you’re overwhelmed with everything else happening in your world. it may be unfounded, it may be unreasonable to an outsider, and it may be long term, but it still takes its toll. your body will respond to anxiety. refer to fear.

this emotion is confusion. you don’t know what is happening. your brain makes noises, and you might make noises too.

this is processing, more an interim between emotions than an actual emotion. it’s a purgatory in which you are stuck unsure how to react or feel about something. other emotions you feel are either obscured or blurred together, and time may warp to fit your processing. it can be thought of as many thoughts fighting each other for headspace, or not enough to fill the void. like a computer on a loading screen, you’re stuck processing too much information all at once. a manual reboot (nap time) in my experience sometimes helps.

lastly, this is grief. a mixture of base emotions like sadness, anger, and helplessness merged into one, in response to loss. the loss can be loss of a friend, an object, an opportunity, time, or other things. grief is one of the most difficult emotions to hold in and let out. one might say it has high inertia. but once it flows out, like an boulder tumbling down a mountain, it’s difficult to stop as well. your body will respond to grief. your chest tightens, your throat may feel weird, you facial muscles can tense up, and sometimes your eyes involuntarily pee. but holding in your pee is never pleasant. if your eyes need to pee, it’s okay to use the bathroom too.

emotions are normal and human. and you (probably) are too. processing emotions can be annoying at best and a grueling fight at worst. do take care of yourselves, and if you have the bandwidth, others around you who might need it as well. <3