The Art of Perpetual Disappointment (A User's Guide)

Motivation and consistency - why is it so difficult to keep it up? In a few hours, it will be 2026. To a lot of us, the month of January is nothing more than just a digestion period for whatever was eaten during the holidays. Though, did you know it is also the busiest month worldwide for subscriptions in any field or domain? Magazines, sports clubs, language classes, music lessons, marathons... Sky is the limit, right? The problem being that once you have reached the sky, there's only one way back and the fall might hurt a bit. To me, the worst part of January dwells in that awful question random family members and friends ask: what are your resolutions for the year to come? Well, I don't know Aunt Karen. According to last year's numbers; staying alive, not getting too fat or too sick from refined sugars and pesticides, not finding out that my husband has a Tinder profile or getting a decently paid job and being able to pay my bills while not having a micromanaging-boss ac...

Growing older, we all change. Fact. But somehow, one's either part of those who deny change and keep on telling us (and themselves) that they 'will always be young'. Or, one may be part of the second half: those who expect to change and move on. What we're less prepared to witness is the people around us, to change as well. Children grow, elders get older, parents become grandparents, opportunities present themselves and life-changing decisions that, at first, appeared innocent, are made along the way. And yet, there are small things we keep on missing or tend to close our eyes on in these changes. Among the silent memories we gather are unfortunate habits we wish we had noticed sooner. I've been silently observing the situation like a spectator or an intrusive narrator with nothing interesting to say. I realized, what was once a genuine moment such as hanging out with friends, having a drink or a smoke after work on a terrace... Was easily becoming an addiction for...

'To have a kid or not to have a kid, that is the question.' If Shakespeare had been a woman, perhaps we could have read such a quotation in his works. But, he wasn't and I'm pretty sure that was one of the last things he would have thought of talking about in his writings. Instead, our girl Jane Austen took the matter in her own hands when she wrote to her niece; "[...] by not beginning the business of mothering quite so early in life, you will be young in constitution, spirits, figure and countenance, while Mrs. Wm. Hammond is growing old by confinements and nursing ." We get it Jane, you had better things to do than spending your most precious years taking care of Mr. Darcy's babies. Who wants to be in their thirties and watching thier girlies getting married, pregnant and then, divorced? For the past few months, I've been forced to answer the same questions over and over. As I entered my thirties, it seems like everyone close to me had received an i...

They say 'when women age, they're no longer attractive'. That statement has always struck me as utterly pointless. Mainly because it is misogynistic and creates a bigger gap between genders. It also reminds me of unspoken social rules that I'm very aware of but try to forget as I go about my day. But, more than that, I always thought it lacked precision to even start becoming debatable. Attractive to whom? And what kind of attractiveness are we talking about exactly? What is attractive to me might not be to you and vice versa. Anyone hearing such an opinion and thinking about it for a few seconds, would get to the conclusion that it is indeed, demeaning and senseless. Or they should. And that's the point. They should. Because some of them don't. So, I'm starting to wonder; what are we missing here? What's stronger than pure logic and common sense? Dont' get too excited, I don't have all of the answers. But, I do have theories. Theories that are p...

The title says it all. Growing up, I was convinced I didn't like school and school didn't like me. Then, I became a teacher. Looking back, I'm wondering; is this really the truth I want to settle for? Too many people share the same story. The story that tells how people don't fit in their environment and end up hating their whole journey through education or, in the worst cases, they drop out. It's the same statement we have all hear at least once. We're agreeing with each other on how the system failed them, failed us, and how it bullied us through and through for years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging those who are actual victims of the system and for whom, this story is unfortunately too real. Only, I'm second-guessing my own story and deciding that, I don't want it to be mine anymore. As far as I can remember, I've always heard my mother say that: "Icried so much the first two months of school, she had to bring me back home for a...

"I grew up without grandparents." For most of my life, here's what I used to say when someone would ask me about my parents' parents. A few days ago, a new perspective hit me; what would their version of the situation be? That's a habit I'm trying to take up: whenever the situation doesn't work with me or triggers me for some reason, I now try to think of someone else's perspective in the situation. I actually don't believe it's something I would have been able to do a few years ago but I guess, that's what you call getting older, right? The facts are clear: grandparents are important. But, how important? Apparently, they're significant figures of one's life when growing up. They represent older age, past opportunities from life and their consequences. They're living examples of a life lived. They're someone's heritage and help carry memories down generations, tales and stories that give people a sense of belonging to a ...

When I was eighteen, I wrote and posted online my first stories. The quality of those early stories was, to be blunt, bad. But I was just so happy with my productions, I was so proud of the few words I had managed to put together, that I was shamelessly continuing my works with the same smile on my face. Some might say I lacked objectivity. They might be right. But, looking back, I find myself being inspired, even impressed at my younger self for having such a faith in something I hadn't had any guidance in, ever. I was so sure of what I was doing that I completely forgot about my peer's opinion and kept on doing my thing because it brought me pleasure and a feeling of finally achieving something I was meant to achieve at some point. When you get there, you don't ever want it to go away. After a couple of years following that same path and managing to gather a small audience of dedicated readers, I stopped. Writing became an effort, the pleasure was gone and the stories - e...

I'm a nostalgic kind of gal'. As a 90s' kid, my comfort show is any show that I used to watch on TV when I was younger. There's something about those square-shaped episodes, blurry backgrounds and saxophone solos that just deeply warm my heart. The jingle starts and all of a sudden, I'm eight again, sitting on the floor in front of the TV in our old family house, eating my after-school snacks while watching the massive screen that was, at the time, heavier than you could ever imagine. Besides the fact that I have grown into a bill-paying-adult and own now the smallest, thiniest and lightest TV there is on the market, I have changed along the way and have noticed that what was once acceptable is now a red-flag that I'm surprised to encounter as if it was never seen before. I'm therefore forced to acknowledge that our societies have evolved as well as our values. Is that a good or a bad thing? Well, I guess that depends on the person you used to be, are and wa...