Life Isn’t Linear — And That’s Okay

Life is about taking out the trash and calling it trash, because sometimes, that’s all it deserves.

They say life wasn’t meant to be linear. And yet, we spend so much time trying to straighten it, like shoes forced on the wrong feet. A grey, hardened slab of a day will trip you up no matter how careful you are. Your intentions, your plans—they often slide like wet leggings under the rain. And yet, strangely, that’s a relief. For a little while, you can stop overthinking, look down, and breathe.

Even something as simple as clean water becomes complicated. You push down the filter in the kitchen, only for it to float back up, spilling reminders of all the times you got it wrong. Every misstep, every failed plan rises to the surface. Suddenly, the mistakes feel endless, and you wonder if you’ve ever done anything right.

Your head is present, but your mind wanders—farts, they call it. You try to act on the precipice, doing your best, like Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness. You pour warm water over coffee beans, hoping for clarity. It doesn’t come. You shrug. Life wasn’t meant to be linear, they insist.

The manual of life tells you to hug trees, get out of bed, breathe fresh air. But what if that’s not you? Some days, standing outside brings no comfort. Some days, the abusive words lurking in your environment bite like vampires. Your migraine arrives anyway. If it stings too much, you find relief in absurdity—French fries in your nose, more water on the filter, anything to remind yourself you are still alive.

Life is wrong sometimes, and that’s exactly right. Teeth are fine, bills sit like coasters on the counter, the electric bill quietly mocking your sleep-deprived mind. GET MORE SLEEP. Don’t shout. Just do it.

Scary things happen. People change your reality with their version of truth, leaving you hollow, numb, unsure of what is real. Your ambition withers, your ideas drift like aliens in space, and the money that should be yours is suddenly glued to someone else’s hands. The walls mock you with peeling paint. You question everything—career, choices, love, even yourself.

Sometimes the abused becomes the abuser. The trauma morphs into habits, into patterns that repeat when time feels short and security feels tangly, not like a carrot, but like a choice. More often than not, it wasn’t you. But eventually, it can feel like it was.

Your skin burns, your mind bakes, while others escape the fire. Their freedom frustrates you, and before long, their reality becomes yours. And your reality? Did you ever have one?

You rethink every path. The wrong career, the wrong decisions. But the truth is, every path has risks, insecurities, and frustrations. Living with roommates, never having a kitchen to yourself, managing your hygiene around others’ schedules—these aren’t conveniences. They are survival exercises.

And yet, you find ways to survive. Stuffed animals become kings of the jungle, bite-free companions that comfort you when the real beasts loom too large. You crave the small, safe things because the mountains still wait for you to climb them.

Run as far as you can. Life can’t escape you, and neither can you escape life. But when life closes its eyes around you, be that peek-a-boo. Smile at the chaos. Laugh at the absurdity. Remember: the better day isn’t tomorrow. It’s today, however messy, awkward, and misaligned it feels.

Sometimes life spills your laundry, douses your coffee beans, and floats your mistakes to the surface. Sometimes it gives you migraines, confusing roommates, unpaid bills, peeling walls, and conflicting realities. And yet, life also gives you the absurdity to survive it. A wet pair of leggings can feel like relief. A stuffed animal can feel like a crown. A small moment of clarity can feel like victory.

Life isn’t linear. Life doesn’t follow rules. Life doesn’t always reward effort or punish laziness fairly. But life also gives you the opportunity to reclaim small certainties: clean water, teeth that work, laughter that sticks.

So, take out the trash. Call it trash. Pour more water, hug whatever trees feel right, laugh at your roommates, and survive the absurdity. Life isn’t linear. And that’s okay. Because sometimes, finding one thing that feels right—one thing that doesn’t change—is exactly enough.