Journey 004 · Perfectionism · Part 05 of 5 A week later, I was standing near the front door with my coat already on when my phone buzzed. “We’re heading to the park. Are you coming?” I looked toward the living room. The vacuum cleaner stood in the middle of the floor. A basket of…
Journey 004 · Perfectionism · Part 04 of 5 The doorbell rang while the onions were still uncut and a basket of clean laundry sat in the middle of the sofa. My friend was fifteen minutes early. For a moment, I stood still. Two cups sat in the sink, the table was unset, and I…
Journey 004 · Perfectionism · Part 03 of 5 “This morning, we needed you in the room.” My manager’s words stayed with me long after the meeting ended. They should have sounded simple. Instead, they disturbed something older. Another sentence returned to me. “You’re the one I never have to worry about.” My mother had…
Journey 004 · Perfectionism · Part 02 of 5 At 10:07, I was still changing the title on slide twelve. The meeting had started at ten. I knew that. My manager had already called once. A message from a colleague waited on my screen. We’re in the conference room. Are you coming? I looked at…
Journey 004 · Perfectionism · Part 01 of 5 The doorbell rang twenty minutes early. I was in the kitchen with a dish towel in one hand and a tray of roasted vegetables in the other. Some carrots had browned more than the others, and the rosemary looked unevenly scattered. I had already rearranged everything…
Journey 003 · Feeling Behind in Life · Part 5 of 5 Spring did not arrive all at once. It came in small ways. A little more light in the morning.A softer color in the sky.Birdsong before I opened my eyes.The air near the window no longer felt as sharp. For a while, I did…
Journey 003 · Feeling Behind in Life · Part 4 of 5 Winter came quietly that year. Not all at once. First, the mornings grew darker. Then the air near the window turned cold. And then, one by one, the leaves on my plant began to change. A yellow leaf here. A dry edge there….
Journey 003 · Feeling Behind in Life · Part 3 of 5 For several days after I returned from the flower shop, the small bag of soil remained beside the windowsill. Every morning, I saw it. Every evening, I told myself I would repot the plant when I had more time. But the truth was,…
Journey 003 · Feeling Behind in Life · Part 2 of 5 The next morning, I woke with the same heaviness still sitting somewhere in my chest. No one had said anything cruel.No one had told me I was behind. And yet, I carried the feeling as if someone had. I made coffee and opened…
Journey 003 · Feeling Behind in Life · Part 1 of 5 That night, I only meant to check my phone for a few minutes before going to sleep. But one scroll became another, and suddenly my screen was full of other people’s lives. Someone posted wedding photos: a white veil, a flower arch, a…