Simran Lavanya Saraf

'I Overthink Your Punctuation Use'

There's a reason why so many people can relate when Lorde sings, "I overthink your punctuation use" in The Louvre. We can be prone to ruminate and overanalyze silly things, particularly in the early stages of dating. This is enhanced through the use of texting and social media. Text messages can easily get lost in translation, with misunderstandings being part and parcel of texting. Questions like, “Why did they use that full stop?” and “What does that emoji symbolize?” can begin to consume our thoughts. We may rewrite texts multiple times before sending it and send our friends screenshots asking for their advice on how to move forward. Changes in our partner’s mood may cause us to start listing all the potential reasons, in order to see if it could be something to do with us. Many of us overanalyze and overthink relationships from time to time. However, this can become a serious problem when it becomes a daily occurrence and not a once-in-a-while incidence. Therefore, it’s important to try and limit such thoughts and keep in mind that our perception of behaviours is often just our perception.