We all carry monsters—awkward memories, regrets, and cringe-worthy moments—but embracing them is part of being human and living fully.
Let’s face it: humans are strange, complex creatures who like to pretend we have everything under control… right up until we hear a floorboard creak and suddenly remember that one decision in 2013.
Yes, we’ve all got monsters in our closets – and no, not the Pixar kind. These ones don’t do bedtime stories. They do awkward flashbacks, emotional hangovers and deep cringe at 2am.
You might call it “baggage”, “skeletons” or “that thing we don’t talk about at family braais”, but we all have that something stuffed behind emotional shoeboxes and unfinished journals.
Some people have exes with tattoo regrets in their closet. Others are still haunted by that interpretive dance phase in college. And a few keep entire WhatsApp voice notes they’ll never re-listen to, but also never delete. Why?
The comparison troll lives among Instagram filters and LinkedIn promotions. Loves to pop out and ask: “Why don’t you own a house on the coast?” Answer: because you bought three air fryers and believe in healing crystals.
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The financial phantom is also present. You think you’re budgeting like a champ, until he reminds you of the R4 000 impulse-buy of a treadmill that now holds laundry.
The 3am philosopher waits until you’re just about to fall asleep, then says: “Remember in Grade 6 when you called the teacher ‘mom’?” Thanks, Carl. Go sit in the corner with the anxiety goblin.
Closet cleanouts? Some try to Marie Kondo their closets; light candles, meditate and say things like: “Does this memory spark joy?” Others just stuff it down with carbs and Netflix and, frankly, l support both strategies.
And then there are the brave few who befriend their monsters. They dress them in glitter, give them nicknames like “Regretina” or “Cringezilla”, and take them out for tea. Because sometimes, the best way to handle your weirdness is to embrace it like an eccentric aunt at a wedding.
Having monsters is human. Whether it’s emotional scars, bizarre habits, or secret obsessions with reruns of MacGyver, we’re all carrying something.
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So, next time your closet creaks open and that awkward little gremlin shuffles out in your old high school hoodie, give him a nod. Offer him popcorn. Just… don’t let him post on Facebook.
We’re all just walking wardrobes of wildness, zipped up in jeans and pretending to know how taxes work.
If you’ve got monsters, congrats – you’re doing life right.
