Is it all just make-believe?

Illusions fade after a while. That's just how it goes. Some fade quickly while some linger on for a bit. But in the end, they're all still illusions waiting to shatter. Perhaps the most convincing of these illusions are the ones I make myself, to fool myself into thinking of something that has so little chance of ever becoming reality. Illusions ease the pain. It's like playing pretend. And it seems innocent enough at first..

And before you know it, your entire world revolves around an illusion - a star without any warmth. It seems to shine, but it's as cold as ice. And no amount of warmth will ever emanate from it. In the infinite cold, you realize that your star was nothing more than a simulacrum.

But we still hold on to these smoke and mirrors. We hold on because it gives us a chance to see, to feel, to have what we otherwise cannot. Though the reality of it is that it is nothing more than a trick of the mind we ourselves have created.

The human ego is so delicate. When an illusion shatters, there is a chance that the ego might shatter with it as well. A sort of awakening to the sad realities of life, the climax of a story told countless times. And the denouement is never easy to swallow - just like glass shards from a shattered dream.