It’s easy to think when you look at the news and other media, that early achievement is expected because of how celebrated it is. Build a successful business in high school and no doubt that a local paper will write about you. Graduate from high school and go immediately to work for Google, and you’re a genius. But what if this isn’t you? What if you graduate college or high school just as directionless as you were when you started?

I don’t really miss that my desk job that much. I say “that much” because occasionally there are times when I wish I could just sit in the air conditioned cube watching the world outside and listening to streaming radio while doing something mindless. The funny thing is that I don’t really miss the work or even the environment that much. It’s little things. Like the fact that occasionally, we’ll say rarely, I used to come in before anyone else.

+++ title = “05” date = 2019 +++ A phrase I’ve heard throughout my life is: “Have a sense of humor.” The way that people say it is almost akin to the way they offer a breath mint: “Here, take one.” But you can’t offer someone a sense of humor that way. A sense of humor is developed, like any other sense. I wouldn’t turn to you if you didn’t enjoy a concert and say “have a sense of hearing!

During my social media fast during the month of March, I found myself less interested in my phone when I was bored, say, sitting in a waiting room. So in these cases, I would usually resort to listening to music, or leaning into the boredom, which enhanced my creative thoughts and spurred new ideas. But in waiting rooms, I noticed something that I hadn’t really noticed in a while – magazines.

+++ title = “05” date = 2019 +++ The first meal happens during the preparation process. Even though onions will sting the eyes, and garlic will make the hands smell for hours, the chef begins with an appetizer eaten not with her mouth but with her eyes and hands. The feeling of dough being rolled. The crispiness of carrots being chopped. The whirling colors and sensational textures. In preparation of cooking, a chef eats her first meal.