Happyish

by Jeanette Escudero

I’m a feminist. A hard-ass, bra-burning feminist. I was raised by two mothers who instilled the belief in me that anything a man can do, a woman can do better. And I truly believe this to my core.

It didn’t come suddenly. I didn’t wake up and just snap my fingers and decide to be content. I wish it was that easy. It’s been growing, like a tiny plant that you water and feed and love and then one day two leaves fall off and it starts to tilt sideways and wilt and you know it’s going to die. You give up hope and ignore it. But then one day, you look across the room, and there’s a flower bud. You didn’t even know it would survive, let alone flower.

It says DING DONG THE DICK IS GONE.

but humor has always been my default setting during stressful situations.

Life doesn’t come with a remote. You have to get up and change it yourself.”

If I dwell on all the what-ifs and could’ve-beens, all I’m doing is missing out again. I can’t change the past, so I may as well focus on the present.

“A bully is only as powerful as you let them be,”

I think when you’re younger, you try to impress everyone. You’re constantly on your best behavior because you don’t even know yourself. As you get older and you come to terms with who you are and that there’s no need to make apologies for your actions, it’s easy to be silly. I

“And it’s okay to fall apart once in a while. And it’s okay to inconvenience people, and it’s okay to feel your feelings. The people who love you will still love you.

“It’s not about the number of people around you but the quality of the people around you.” I have quality people.

I’VE GOT NINETY-NINE PROBLEMS, AND NINETY OF THEM ARE SCENARIOS I’VE MADE UP IN MY HEAD

Asking for help, sticking around when things get hard, and being authentic, that makes you strong. It turns out that I didn’t have a person all to myself. I have quality people.