Posts

The Cost of Comfort

-
The Cost of Comfort We like to think the system is fair. That hard work gets rewarded, and everyone has a shot. But walk into any café, any store, any hotel lobby, and you’ll see the truth written on tired faces and worn-out shoes. The ones doing the hardest work aren’t climbing ladders- they’re holding them up. And no one’s looking down to say thanks. That world isn’t a dystopian future. It’s now. The people who make your life easier, smoother, and more comfortable. And who go unnoticed. Until the moment something goes wrong.  A missed order. A cold drink. A wait that’s “too long.” Suddenly, they’re not just a worker. They’re a target. The smile they’re forced to wear gets ripped off by a customer’s impatience. Their exhaustion is dismissed with a “Well, it’s your job, isn’t it?” It’s a job. But it’s also a life. A life spent standing, smiling, bending over backwards to make someone else’s day easier while your own gets harder. They’re not just employees. They’re the ones who ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

The World's Not a Movie. You're Not the Star.

-
  The World’s Not a Movie. You’re Not the Star. There’s this thing going around: “main character energy.” The vibe is cinematic. Curated. Controlled. The idea is simple: your life is a film. You’re the lead. Everyone else is just part of the backdrop. At first, it sounds empowering. Romantic, even. Who wouldn’t want to be the star of their own story? But then you realize you’re not really living it. You’re performing it. You start turning everyday moments into scenes. A breakup becomes a monologue. A sunset becomes content. A panic attack becomes a post. You’re not asking yourself, how do I feel? You’re asking, how will this look? And that’s where it shifts.  From expression to performance. From memory to marketing. We cry on camera now. We narrate our trauma in 30-second clips, paired with soft piano and glitchy transitions. We talk about healing, but we make it aesthetic. Attractive. Pretty. We build versions of ourselves that are shinier, smoother, and easier to consume. An...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are We Still Watching?

-
  Are We Still Watching? When I was seven, I had a phase where I used to flinch at the sound of fireworks.  I knew they weren’t gunshots, but I’d still duck instinctively, heart racing. Now imagine a world where the sound is gunfire. Where there are no fireworks, only funerals. Where children don’t flinch anymore- because they've gotten used to it. That world isn’t a dystopian future. It’s now. It’s Gaza. It’s Ukraine. It’s every name, every place, that was trending- for a day- before we moved on. We scroll past crumbled schools and lifeless bodies like they’re just another headline in a feed full of banana bread recipes and skincare routines. A child’s final scream plays for ten seconds before a podcast clip interrupts it. A grieving mother pleads for help in broken English, and the comment section debates her accent. An apartment is blown to dust in real time, and someone writes: “Praying 🙏🏽💔.”  We’re watching war like it’s content. Watching children die like i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Big Brother is Watching You

-
Big Brother is Watching You I was fifteen when I was given The Kite Runner as a gift. I didn’t know much about it. I didn’t know it would gut me. I didn’t know that by the time I turned the last page, something in me would be quieter. And also louder. Because that’s what that book did. It took me to Kabul, to betrayal, boyhood, and the kind of guilt that sticks to your ribs. It made me sit with shame, with love, with things that didn’t have clean endings. It gave me a window into a world I had never lived in and a mirror that showed me feelings I didn’t have the language for yet. It didn’t change my life. It shaped it. And now I think about how many kids might never get that moment. Not because they don’t read. But because someone else decided they shouldn’t. In 2023, over 3,300 books were challenged or banned across the U.S.  Most of them? Books that talk about race, identity, queerness, grief, history, and truth. Books like Gender Queer , The Hate U Give , All Boys Aren’t Blue ...
Post a Comment
Read more