Author: Irie.
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Denying reality is far more exhausting than accepting it: A birthday lesson.
Denial is far more exhausting than acceptance. It’s only taken me nearly 40 years of living and two years of being in a pandemic, but finally, the message is starting to get through.
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We can’t always afford to be passionate about our jobs – and that’s okay.
Our society has created a myth around passion and the workplace. This myth says that when you’re 18, you need to find something you’re passionate about and figure out a way to get paid for it. If we can’t, we feel like failures or sellouts. But the truth is that not everyone can afford to be passionate about their jobs – and that’s okay.
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Take Up Space.
One of the messages I would love to give young women, particularly young Black women and women of color is this: Take up space. So often I see women defer to others to confirm their feelings and to validate their opinions. I see them soften their recommendations with caveats, their emails and text messages with exclamation points and emojis so as not to appear too much, too rude. I say this like I’m talking about other people, but I’m not. I’m talking about myself, too.
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Re-Learning Empathy.
When my daughter broke her leg just after the New Year, she entered a wilderness I had not traversed before. I realized I needed to reconsider everything I thought I knew about empathy – starting with the idea that empathy is about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.
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Parenthood Will Wreck You.
Parenthood will wreck you. It will take your emotions, your sense of self, your delusions of control and thrash them about the room like a dog with a chew toy.
well. 