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Dear Diary, There is a particular kind of friendship that survives without maintenance. The kind that does not require daily phone calls, or constant updates, or performative displays of affection. The kind that understands silence.The kind that understands absence.The kind that understands life. Adaora and I have that kind of friendship. We met in university.
Dear Diary, A surprising amount of healing apparently comes from eating food that did not originate from a delivery application. For the past week, I have been living almost entirely on meals prepared by my mother, who appears to have interpreted my hospital stay as evidence that I was incapable of feeding myself and therefore
I arrived home shortly after noon. For a brief and deeply optimistic moment, I believed life was returning to normal. Then I opened my front door. And immediately knew my mother had been there. There are signs. The throw pillows were arranged with military precision. The decorative blanket I normally ignore had been folded into
One of the more surprising discoveries of adulthood is that people continue caring about you even after you’ve made a deliberate effort to become difficult to reach. I spent most of my second day in hospital attempting to convince everyone that I was perfectly fine. This was complicated by the fact that I was in
People think journalism is glamorous.It isn’t. Nobody tells you that most investigative reporting involves sitting in uncomfortable places for unreasonable amounts of time while questioning your life choices. For instance: At the moment I am writing this, it is 2:17 a.m. Mosquitoes have declared war on my existence. My back hurts. My phone battery is
Most people don’t expect to die on a Tuesday.Especially not before lunch.I certainly didn’t. The day started the way most of my weekdays start: with disappointment.Specifically, disappointment in myself. My alarm rang at 6:00 a.m.I ignored it.It rang again at 6:15.I ignored it with even greater confidence.By 6:30, my alarm and I were no longer
People say honesty is the best policy.Personally, I think honesty is expensive. Honesty gets you into trouble.Honesty starts difficult conversations.Honesty forces you to explain things. Lies, on the other hand, are efficient.Elegant.Convenient.Like shortcuts. At least that’s what I believed until last Thursday.Now I’m not so sure. The funny thing is that I’ve never considered myself
I used to have festivals.Let us begin there. Because if I begin with my current circumstances, I may become emotional. And gods should not become emotional. It ruins the image. Three hundred years ago, people crossed rivers for me.Entire villages prepared for my arrival weeks in advance.Drums echoed through forests.Goats disappeared mysteriously.Priests suddenly became very
Dear Diary, Apparently there are several hours missing from my day. I find this unacceptable. Not because I particularly wanted those hours. But because they belonged to me. And I have always been uncomfortable with losing access to things that belong to me. Time. Information. Control. Particularly control. The last thing I remember is standing in a boardroom
Dear Diary, I have always believed that most crises are avoidable.Not all. Just most. The problem is that people confuse preparation with pessimism. When you ask difficult questions before something goes wrong, people call you negative. When the thing eventually goes wrong, those same people schedule emergency meetings and suddenly discover the value of planning.