Ghosting: The Exit Strategy No One Wants to Talk About

By Mahoor Haya Shah

(The Midnight Vanish):In the neon glow of midnight streets,
where shadows dance to forgotten beats,
they come like whispers on a restless breeze,
promising solace, a moment’s ease.

With eyes that mirror the twilight sky,
and words that drift like smoke up high,
they weave their tales in cigarette haze,
leaving hearts tangled in their maze.

But morning breaks with a silent cry,
no farewell kiss, no last goodbye,
just empty echoes where laughter played,
and dreams dissolve in the masquerade.

Ghosts in the alleys, spirits in the rain,
dissolving love into endless pain,
they vanish like the setting sun,
leaving you to wander, all alone.

So here’s to the souls who slip away,
like verses lost in yesterday,
may we find the strength to stand and say,
“Enough of ghosts, it’s time to stay”

They don’t teach you about ghosting in school. Nobody pulls you aside to say, “One day, someone will disappear on you, and it’ll feel like dying by a thousand unanswered texts.” No warnings. No sirens. Just silence – loud, screaming silence. It’s the kind of thing that sneaks up on you, hits you in the chest and leaves you there, stranded in your own questions.

Ghosting. The coward’s exit. The vanishing act of the modern age. They leave you hanging on a conversation like an unfinished sentence, mid-air, mid-thought, mid-everything. No explanation. No goodbye. Just… gone!

It’s everywhere now, like a virus you can’t escape. Friendships. Relationships. Even job interviews. It doesn’t matter if you’re perfect or messy or halfway in between; the moment they decide you’re too much or not enough, poof- you’re talking to a wall.

But if we see ghosting isn’t new. Humans have always had a flair for avoiding hard conversations. It’s just that in the old days, they’d leave town, change their name, and pray you didn’t run into them at the market. But now it is more horrible. It’s a swipe, a block, a delete, leaving ‘on seen’ or simply ignoring and stopping communication. A coward with Wi-Fi and an aversion to confrontation.

But let’s not romanticize the ghost. They’re not mysterious, not enigmatic. They’re just afraid. Afraid of the raw, messy truth that comes with being human. Afraid of admitting they don’t want you, need you, or care enough to try. Ghosting isn’t an act of power; it’s an act of retreat.

And yet, we’re complicit, aren’t we? We’ve built a world that makes it easy. Easy to disconnect, easy to avoid, easy to pretend the people we hurt aren’t real. A world where vulnerability is a weakness and “seen” is the ultimate cruelty. We’ve traded depth for convenience, connection for control. And now, we’re left with this hollow, aching void.

But the truth about ghosts is that they haunt. You might think you’ve erased someone, but the unvarnished reality is, they’ll linger in your head, a flicker of guilt you can’t quite shake. And if you’re the one being ghosted? You haunt yourself. The unanswered questions, the overthinking, the desperate need for closure that never comes.

Maybe that’s why ghosting stings so much. It isn’t just rejection…it’s erasure! It’s the casual dismissal of everything you shared, every laugh, every story, every small, stupid moment that felt like it mattered. Ghosting doesn’t just end something; it denies it ever existed. And what’s more human than the need to matter?

We crave acknowledgement, even in endings! The truth doesn’t have to be gentle, but it does have to be real. “I don’t feel the same.” “I’m not ready for this.” “I don’t think we’re right for each other.” “Let us part ways”. These words are not easy, but they are necessary. Because when you ghost, you strip someone of their right to feel, to process, to heal.

And healing? That’s the hard part. Because ghosting leaves a mess you can’t clean up. It’s not a cut; it’s a wound that festers, infects, lingers. You replay every interaction, dissect every detail, searching for the moment it all went wrong. But there’s no answer, only silence. And silence is the loudest lie of all.

So, what’s the answer? Maybe it’s this: next time, don’t disappear. Don’t let fear guide you. If you’re done, say it. If you’re confused, admit it. If you care – even a little then offer the dignity of your honesty. Ghosting may be common, but it shouldn’t be normal.

Because at the end of the day, we all deserve to be seen, even if it’s just long enough to say goodbye. We’re not ghosts, after all. We’re human. Messy, scared, fragile, real. Let’s start acting like it.

• The author is a columnist

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