Maame

by Jessica George

I almost tell her that fun doesn’t equate to happiness; at the very least, it lends you happiness and I want to know how to keep it. I’ve googled “How to be happy”; I’ve taken walks in the park and written long gratitude lists; I’m consuming more fruits and vegetables and going to bed early; I’ve given out compliments and practiced mindful breathing. I have tried to fix myself.

I can’t comprehend living to work, but then I’m afraid of working just to live.

From a young age we’re told office jobs are the goal. Then you sit at a desk hunched over 9–5, 5 days a week for most of your younger years until it’s too late to do anything else but get a “helpful” chair.

When someone doesn’t understand you, how you are, why you are, you will find yourself fighting losing battles every day. They will seem small at first, but you will spend your life watching them grow, in size and importance.

Can one be a feminist twenty-four seven?