It began just as a regular day. I grabbed my phone, set to peruse updates, check my messages, and possibly respond to a couple of emails. However, when I launched the application, an unannounced command greeted me: An"Session Expired. Log in once more, please.
Not significant at all. Sometimes it occurs. I entered my information thinking I would return promptly.
Unapproved password.
My frown deepened. Not possible!"); I gave it another go, this time slowly and meticulously entering every character. Perhaps I made an error?
Same result.
My stomach started to ache a little. My password had not been changed lately; of that I was certain. Had I been logged out for security reasons? Was there some kind of update? The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had no answers. Hoping a fast reset, I clicked "Forgot password?". I was supposed to receive a verification code, but when I looked at my email, there was nothing—no reset connection, no message, even not in my spam folder. I kept on refreshing, but nothing arrived. The uncomfortable sensation developed more robustly. Was I permanently locked outside? Had my account been compromised? I tried logging in from another device but got the same rejection. Possibilities raced through my mind—that perhaps I had set off some sort of security lock, perhaps someone had changed my information, or perhaps, just perhaps, the system itself was against me. Frustrations settled in. This was my account, my space, my past; losing access to an app was not all that was at issue. Conversations, recollections, crucial documents—all behind a login page that refused to open for me. I did everything—resetting, checking, even reaching out to assistance, but all I got were automatic replies that spun me around. It made me go mad. the not knowing, the wait, the sensation of exclusion from something that was mine.
Sitting there, I was powerless staring at the monitor. When so much of life is digital, being locked out feels like being erased—like a ghost outside a house you once called home, knocking, hoping someone will let you back in.