New Constellations

Constellation in starry sky

One of my best friends from high school once pointed out how I like to think about my thoughts.

He’s right. I like to think about my memories too. And in both cases, I often misinterpret and misremember. I’m often wrong.

But, as it turns out, that’s not a bad thin… Read more...

I Feel Like

I feel like the villains are scheming to blow up the planet from their rocketship, and I’m trapped in a basement tied to a sewer pipe.

I feel like someone cut off my hands, and they’re laughing at me through the walls.

I feel like the bomb shelters were not dug deep eno… Read more...

Layovers & Empty Glasses

Fluid pouring in pint glass

We tend to strive for the other side of our achievements.

A clean in-box
An empty desk
The celebration after the speech
The exhale after the test

But then, we get there, to the other side, and after the euphoria subsides, we tend to resent the emptiness and crave the clutter again.

In… Read more...

Space for Egos

The facade of an office block removed to expose office spaces, cables, rooms and the structure.

It doesn’t take talent to destroy things.

Only ego.

And a deaf ear to the screams of the architects and the residents.

Even the ugliest of buildings has some good bricks, some ingenuity worthy of replication.

Innovation comes from working above and beyond the thing before it.

No… Read more...

A Butterfly Among Birds

Orange and black butterfly

Sometimes I feel like I was dropped on the wrong planet, born into the wrong species.

I am a butterfly among birds, living trustfully by the lessons I received at birth.

I flutter instead of soar. I chase rainbows instead of treasure.

With reverence for the wind and warmth, I swoop … Read more...

The Real Cheater

Student cheating during an exam

AI has made cheating almost irresistible for students: to be able to get a 10-page paper done in 30 seconds is certainly tempting. There are some subjects students just don’t care to learn; they just want to get that grade (B is fine), check the box, and move along. I had c… Read more...

Where Love Lies

One thing that frees me, that keeps the darkness from taking me over, is the belief that there are no bad people out there, just regular people doing bad things, whether with malice, ignorance, or good intentions.

I am freed by this thought because it feels less permanent. Behavio… Read more...

Two Prisoners

Sunset over an Australian Beach

I don’t get get. How can you smile in here?

Because smiling is better than frowning.

But we’re locked in this room all day and beaten and tortured at night. We’re fed the same rotten food every day. We are ridiculed and yelled at. We are forgotten.

This is all true… Read more...