But in the end, you can’t force or fake an escape from yourself; you can’t trick anyone into loving you through a loophole, and you can’t really become someone else, no matter how elaborate your disguise might be. The only real way to untangle yourself from yourself, to quiet the dull roar of desire and fear and longing in the background of your thoughts and actions, is to broker some truce with your attention that lets you focus it on the people around you instead.

Emma Healey, "Missed Connections"