humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
Life In An Abyss
Her life was an abyss. Dark, empty and cold. It all started when she was just a little girl. Her mom's dead body lay in front of her with blood everywhere. She was covered in her mom's blood but little did she know that would be the last time she would see her mother. You see, she was only five years old. So she really couldn't comprehend what was going on around her. All she knew was that now she had to listen to her brother. He was nine and her role model. The only thing he told her was that she had to change her clothes. So she did. And while she did that, her brother placed a blanket over their mother. Then this tall man came inside the house a couple minutes later. He acted as if everything was okay. We did the same, too. We said nothing. We lived life as normal people. The only difference is....normal people do not have a dead body in their home. It took a while before people actually knew that our mother was dead. But the tall man got arrested and mommy had her body burnt.
By Lashell Greene7 years ago in Humans
Segregation of the Mind
As the bottle of whiskey I'd swiped from my mother’s stash got lower I could feel myself going numb. The fear of where I was going slowly slipped away and there was room for nothing more than the anticipation of who I was going to see. My feet felt as if they were slipping away from me as I stumbled past the cookie cutter homes. The trees that looked as identical as the houses during the day turned to villainous shapes of demons in the night.
By Alisha Felder7 years ago in Humans
A Rude Awakening
“ You’ve been living in a dream world, Neo.” This was one of the famous quotes in the movie Matrix that Ms. Johnson referenced as she explained how the movie was one of her favorites. My interview with Ms. Johnson ,a Resolution Manager at Hertz, was conducted over the phone. She referenced this movie to explain how her perception of both the world and the people in it was forever changed. The purpose of my interview was to find the relevant events that occurred in this persons life that changed their overall outlook on life in a detrimental way.
By Darrian Broom7 years ago in Humans
Being Married to Someone on the Autism Spectrum
My husband was recently diagnosed as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). At first, I was immensely relieved by his diagnosis – we both were. For all the major miscommunications and resultant disagreements we’d had that led us to an assessment, we had started to think that either he had to be wired a bit differently or of late, we were both more irrational in each other’s company than Donald Trump is...in general. After our initial ‘aha!’ moment had passed, I began writing to various Autism support organizations thinking that surely, they’d be able to guide us in forging a way forward despite our utterly different approaches to life.
By Abellona T7 years ago in Humans
Never Good Enough
All my life, starting so early in my childhood, have I always been made to feel as if I'm not good enough. For anything, from not being good enough at being a child, not good enough to be friends with, not good enough as a sister, not good enough as a daughter, not good enough to be cast aside from my sexual assaulter so he could go after my sister. Not good enough for my biological father and his family to stay in my life, instead if abandoning my mother and I shortly after birth, not good enough for my adopted father to acknowledge me as his own. No, never have I been good enough, but I knew one day I would. From all those years of lack of love, it was building up for when I was a mother. I'd be plenty good enough to my children, and that is what kept me fighting; smiling with my head up high.
By Noel McLeod7 years ago in Humans
Sexism in the 21st Century.
The wonders of the modern age are numerous; we have been able to land on the moon, cure or treat a whole host of diseases and create pocket computers. Yet we still cling to the stupid belief that women are somehow inferior. They are not and men have only created this impression out of fear.
By John Ames Birch7 years ago in Humans
Why Didn't I Think of That Earlier?
There is little more frustrating than the inability to come up with a witty or off-the-cuff remark when insulted (either accidentally or on purpose). You freeze. Possibly stand still. If you’re anything like me the word "fuck" repeats over and over in your head in this really urgent loop. Sometimes I used walk away to only realise at a later point that I have little crescent moons embedded in my palms from having my fists so tightly balled. The funny thing is that maybe half an hour later it comes to you—the exact thing that would’ve been perfect to say. The exact thing that would’ve knocked that smug look right off their face, or if they’d inadvertently offended you, make them reconsider the fact that they obviously hadn’t thought of your feelings. You know you’re better than this, right? You’re better than them. This wasn’t you at your best and you go mad thinking about how you’d do things differently and you would be the one walking away high-fiving people and looking smugger (is that even a word?) than that sap Juliette Lewis.
By Caroline Egan7 years ago in Humans