So you suck at small talk?

When you wish you could simply say less

There's nothing quite like the social anxiety of realising you said too much and to the wrong person. The awkward smile of their response when they merely asked you how your week has been and, try as you might, you can't help but plunge into great detail about being on the verge of a mental breakdown. You hope they'll match your longing for depth - and all inside a two-minute schoolgate exchange - but they don't. It's not their fault; these are functioning adults, drawing from a carefully curated well of socially appropriate topics befitting the environment. The inability to say less is an affliction experienced only by oversharers and overthinkers. Those among us who struggle big time with small talk. It's not that we don't understand small talk or the role it plays; it's that we suck at it. I'm all for vulnerability and showing up exactly as I am, and I think the world needs a lot more of that, but I'm learning (mainly through cocking up) that there is a time and place for it, and not every audience is willing.