"To show pity is felt as a sign of contempt because one has clearly ceased to be an object of fear as soon as one is pitied."
~Friedrich Nietzsche

Yesterday I realized that dear Mr. Willoughby is entirely unneeded in my life. The epiphany came to me during a lunchtime we shared with some mutual friends. Discussion after discussion, I could not help but observe that every conversation was turned into a desperate attempt to gain the amusement and overall approval of our peers. The spectacle was, as a whole, quite exhausting. A few underhandedly sharp comments from my end and he quickly realized I had come to a conclusion about our relationship, and that it would probably take more energy than he would ever want to spend on a single person to gain my esteem once more. And now the only thing I feel for him is the one emotion we both loathe: pity.

The entirety of this affair was all at once taxing, empowering, and freeing. I'm quite glad it's found its end.