taylor305•1mo agoProlific Poster

Why nobody talks about the loneliness after the paperwork is done

I finally got my residency approved in Berlin three months ago. Took two years of fighting with forms and appointments. I thought I would feel free. Instead I just felt empty. The thing nobody warned me about is what happens when the fight is over. You lose the thing that kept you going every day. Now I sit in my apartment and realize I don't know how to just live here. I got so used to being a refugee that I forgot how to be a person. Has anyone else hit this wall after getting their status sorted?

2 comments

2 Comments

miller.avery1mo ago

I lost the thing that kept me going every day." That's the part that got me. It's like how people act weird when a big project ends at work or when you finish a renovation on your house. You spend so long in crisis mode that peace just feels like you're wasting time.

kim_nelson1mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh MAN, this hit me hard. What helped me was picking up a tiny weekly routine like joining a casual neighborhood running group - it gave me something normal to look forward to that had nothing to do with paperwork.