Wait, is life just hard?

In the last two years I’ve had a number of stressful experiences. And every time I’ve realized: I am really suffering, but this is a very normal experience. People do these things all the time. How did I not realize how amazingly tough all these people are?

For example: my parents both died, about 7 months apart. And I looked around at all my friends who had lost both parents and I thought, how?? How are they just walking around out here like life goes on? And they were like, yeah, we don’t know either.

And then last summer I got a dog. He is the love of my life and the sweetest little man to ever walk this Earth, unless you happen to be sitting in a desk chair when he thinks you should be playing with him, or you approach his door, or you happen to be another dog. And he gets sick (in expensive ways) and he needs to be walked, like, all the time. And I look around me at all these parents and I think: People have actual! human! children! HOW? And they tell me, well, children grow up; dogs are always toddlers. Yeah, but you can legally leave a dog at home alone for hours at a time and feed it dry food out of a bag.

Did you know some people have dogs and children? While holding down full-time jobs? They deserve medals.

Currently I’m engaging in another stressful life event: Moving. I more or less moved in with my boyfriend a year ago, but now I’m finally getting out of my apartment, which I had lived in since 2007. I am physically and emotionally exhausted from sorting all of my belongings and have pains in surprising places. Did you know that some people move more frequently than once every 18 years? I guess these people don’t have 8,000 craft supplies and books, but still, how?

My fellow humans, you are doing some really stressful stuff and making it look easy. I appreciate you. Hang in there.

Photo: Helen Fields, obviously. I dismantled this diorama on Saturday, 11 years after my friends and I made it. Read about it here: Do Peepguins Need Sweaters?