I've come to believe that the things you want are on the other side of difficult conversations.
Throughout the last couple of years, I've developed a spidey sense for slowly-developing tension. Mostly internal tension, but I feel it externally too.
It feels like a low-refrigerator-level-hum drag on your psyche. It's a slow eating away at your conscious. The kind of tension that barely registers at first, but if left unchecked turns into extremely short and awkward conversations that tiptoe around the elephant in the room.
For me, it almost feels itchy.