The normal cycle of people's psychological states consists of three phases: **crying**, **neutral**, and **laughter** (though this isn’t just about the literal meanings of these words; "crying" represents a set of states symbolized by this word, such as feelings of helplessness, abandonment, dead ends, or suicidal urges). This three-phase property creates two struggles: **escaping the crying phase** and **crawling toward laughter**. Sometimes people seek to distance themselves from crying to find safety in the neutral zone. Other times, they desperately chase laughter to shorten their time in neutrality. These two struggles, collectively, keep them entangled. You’ll see many people not in the crying phase but struggling to escape it, or not in the laughter phase but striving to reach it. The totality of these struggles is called **"the ups and downs of life."** People claim these highs and lows are imposed on them externally, but in reality, they’re describing their own internal struggles.

There’s another cycle that’s less popular, and those within it are labeled as **"khal-vaz"** (unstable/abnormal). This cycle has two unequal phases: **crying** and **laughter**. Not only is there no neutral phase, but the durations of crying and laughter are unequal, with crying being much shorter. In this cycle, the world is designed for laughter, except for brief moments when crying is necessary—but even then, very briefly. In this cycle, when you lose your father, you grieve for just one day, and by tomorrow, you’re back to having fun (and spreading joy to others). There’s no intermediate phase between the two. This makes others doubt your sanity—or even your heart.  

The second cycle has poor social decorum but offers higher quality. Since there’s no free lunch, every choice you make comes with its own costs.