81 - Still on the Basic Plan of Existence

Life as a subscription continues.

I’m still on the same basic plan 

wake up, work, go home, eat, sleep,

and let the cycle renew itself without asking what I want.

The same bare‑bones survival package,

auto‑renewed, unchangeable,

a plan designed for existing, not living.

I never opted in to the add‑ons.

No “fun times” extension,

no “companionship bundle,”

not even the trial version of what people call

a real life.

Just the minimal plan

functional enough to keep me here,

empty enough to remind me I’m not really part of anything.

And yet, even in this stripped‑down existence,

I try to help others who are struggling like me 

people trapped in their own basic subscriptions,

people who wake each morning

already bracing for another day they didn’t ask for.

So I offer what little I can.

A moment of warmth in the morning,

a space with no judgement,

no expectations,

just a brief pause before they step back

into the machinery of their own lives.

A safe haven, however small,

for those who need a breath

before the grind swallows them again.

I try to guide them away from the dark

even on days when I can’t find my own way out.

Maybe it’s foolish.

Maybe it’s the only thing that keeps me from disappearing.

Part of me hopes that these small acts

earn me a few points toward a better subscription 

as if such a thing exists,

as if life ever upgrades you for kindness.

But deep down I know the truth

I’m still on the basic plan,

still moving through the same loop,

still surviving more than living.

And yet…

if I can make someone else’s day

a little less heavy,

a little less dark,

then maybe that’s the closest thing

to an upgrade I’ll ever get.