Maame

by Jessica George

“Something is genuinely wrong with you,” I whisper, cutting peppers. “You’re so messed up. Chemically imbalanced, maybe—you should google that. You can’t be sad for no reason; it’s not a human’s natural state. In life, you’re meant to be happy or content, only experiencing moments of sadness, so if sadness is your natural state, what does that say about you?” I

For some reason, at night, when you’re meant to be sleeping, your brain wants answers to everything.

Still, that doesn’t change the fact that although I didn’t think I’d be rich, I expected to be happy and the failure to do so has left me gasping for air most of the day.

You grow wiser (supposedly) but never omniscient.

“Comparison is no friend of mental health,”