Maame

by Jessica George

Age is a terrifyingly inconsistent beast.

Parkinson’s disease can be triggered through a complex combination of genetic susceptibility and exposure to environmental factors such as toxins and trauma.

The majority of Parkinson’s cases are “idiopathic.”

I realized then that our friendships were not based on loyalty or love but convenience and proximity.

fun doesn’t equate to happiness; at the very least, it lends you happiness and

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

If only logic and reason overruled emotion.

sometimes asking how someone is serves solely as a passing pleasantry and the only acceptable answer is some variation of “Fine, thanks. You?”

The world is filled with two different kinds of people: those who need to be surrounded by others and those who do not.

When people are ill to the point of no return to full health, to the person they used to be, some don’t have the stomach to stick around. We don’t appreciate being reminded of our own body’s weaknesses, our lack of control and inevitable mortality.

There’s always going to be something we regret or feel guilty about because no one is the perfect child.”

perfection is subjective.”

It’s about what love is. Which is trust, commitment, empathy, and respect. It means really giving a shit about the other person.”

“Some things you’re not meant to be saved from,”

“Some things have to be lessons.”

maybe that’s happiness: a lack of tragedy.

I’ve been slowly falling apart for a very long time and it might take even longer to piece me back together.

I’m sure God understands I’m on annual leave from everything.

Depression is one of the most common causes of insomnia and difficulty sleeping can cause symptoms to worsen.

my mother would not be who I called in the event of a bad day because, chances are, I’d end up feeling worse or, at the very least, dramatic and ungrateful.

“Comparison is no friend of mental health,”

It seems there is a link between our names and our supposed destiny.

A person’s troubles are not measured by the size of those troubles, but by how much they weigh on the individual carrying them.

two dominant introvert types. Those who have always enjoyed their own company and those who have grown to prefer it because they weren’t given much of a choice.

you cannot hope to understand an end without starting at the beginning.”

How someone shows you they love you has less to do with you and all to do with them. There are healthy and unhealthy expressions of love and not all of them should be accepted.”

Ultimately, you must either accept a person for who they are, how they behave, how they express themselves emotionally, and find a healthy way to live with them, or let them go entirely. Either way, you must release yourself from that responsibility.”

one of my problems is that I’m expecting perfection from ordinary people.

“We grow up fast. Not by force, but because we are needed.”

obvious need to be loved. Your craving of it is reflected in your tendency to people-please, even at the cost of your mental health.

it’s easy to conflate being well-liked with being well-loved. There’s often a misconception that to be well-loved, the love has to come from multiple sources, when truthfully, one or two people can love you with the strength of ten.

“You don’t deserve to have other people’s comments and actions eat away at you five days a week, fifty-two weeks a year.

‘Regardless of how you behave, a lot of things are going to be out of your control because this world was made to test you. Protect your peace in whatever and every way that you can.”’

We always think we’ll see death coming and that we’ll have more time, until we’re reminded otherwise.”