Sure enough that was the problem
It is never a good sound to hear the heating and cooling device turn on, and then off, and then on, and then off again. If it keeps turning on and off again like that, then that means the cooling unit is short cycling. The air conditioner can short cycle for various reasons. Thankfully, I have quite a bit of knowledge when it comes to HVAC, so I could easily diagnose the problem myself. One of the reasons a cooling device might short cycle, is because the air conditioning unit is too big for the home. An air conditioner that is too big you would think would be a good thing, but actually the short cycling causes the HVAC device to have a much shorter lifespan because it cools the home entirely too quickly. I have had my central A/C for years, and the short cycling is recent, so I knew that wasn’t the problem. Another reason that your A/C device might short cycle is because it is clogged. I kind of wondered if this was my issue, since I had forgotten to change the air filter. My HEPA air filter by now was probably quite dirty, and so I went and pulled it out and put a new HVAC filter in. Sure enough that was the problem. It is dangerous to not change your HVAC filters often enough, because it causes the A/C to heat up and work harder in an attempt to cool your home. I am glad I caught this now, before it became a bigger issue.