I suppose a good place to start is to ask what is life? If you Google this question the first response is a dictionary entry
life
/līf/
noun
1.the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.”the origins of life”Similar:existencebeinglivinganimationalivenessanimatenessentitysentiencecreationsurvivalviabilityesseOpposite:deathnonexistence
2.the existence of an individual human being or animal.”a disaster that claimed the lives of 266 Americans”
I don’t really think that helps. I mean, I guess it helps to understand when life begins and ends, which people seem to have forgotten somehow.
When you ask people today about life you tend to get responses like, “Life sucks, then you die”. They actually put that on pins and bumper stickers. People commiserate with each other about how awful life is. They talk about how we spend our whole life working just to die. This is the general consensus.
The amount of Gen Z and Millennials who never want to have children is staggering, and they mostly blame the economy or climate change for this problem. Which is ridiculous when you think about the fact that people have been having children since people have been around and we are richer as a society than we have ever been.
People are putting gadgets and comforts before actual lives. And I don’t mean that metaphorically. Women are actually killing their children and most of the time it is over financial reasons. It may interfere with their career plans, or kids are just too expensive to begin with. In 2023 there were 1,026,700 babies murdered before they were even born. That doesn’t seem “safe, legal and RARE” as everyone used to claim they would be. This is a genocide People are purposefully killing unborn people for their own desires. Women are being taught that having a baby is not even one of the choices they can make.
Celebrities like Chelsea Handler make mock videos like, A Day in the Life of a Childless Woman in which they talk about doing the most useless and ridiculous things just to glorify this path. People are told that being able to travel is impossible once you have kids, but then people complain that they can’t travel anyway because they always have to work to support their lifestyle.
Now this lifestyle that they speak of isn’t the same as Chelsea Handler’s running off to Paris for the afternoon. No, it’s $10 coffee drinks, and $300 bar tabs, and takeout every night because cooking is part of the patriarchy. It’s the latest iPhone, and the latest shoe of choice (whether it be a Jimmy Choo or a pair of Nike with a celebrity name on it all of which cost more than my rent in the 90s). And none of this counts as being excessive it’s just “self care” . Which we can’t forget hair and nails done every week.. that’s what life is all about now.
People are being taught that human rights are not actually rights and that humans are the problem. They are being taught that free speech and meritocracy are the problem and that the only thing that is important is buying more things and not working, because working is the patriarchy. Which is ironic since it used to be that men did most of the work and women just lived life taking care of their kids and the home.. but that was bad too. Everything is bad.
If you have a bad feeling take a drug. If you have a good feeling take a drug. If you’re not feeling enough take a drug. If you’re feeling too much take a drug. But whatever you do. Do not go outside and get fresh air. Do not exercise. That is the patriarchy telling you how you should look and feel. Here.. have a pill instead and zone out on the couch watching other people live. Because life itself is the problem.
“treat” myself… well, technically my son’s father treated me… but you know.. I deserved a treat.
a race into school because you can keep up with him. A treat as a mom is hiding in a crevice for hide n seek that previously you couldn’t fit. Being able to carry the giant child that your baby has become up the stairs without getting winded. All of those things are treats. A stack of pancakes.. that’s just a distraction.
business, but the funny thing is that they only used one really big woman, a woman who is famous for playing a really big woman and a woman who has worked hard and 
ful at any size, yes a little roll when you sit down is completely normal. No, you do not have to be a stick to be attractive.
I have to say this feels like a huge accomplishment. Most people I have read about and come in contact with don’t bother to try to get healthy. They just pop a magic pill. Their cholesterol comes down, and they feel like they are doing so much better after. I never understood that. You’re still 50 lbs overweight, but you take medication with major side affects that could harm you, but hey… at least you can still eat pizza whenever you want and feel like crap all the time… so go you!
medicated myself to death. But that’s not the life I want to live. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that some medication is actually necessary. My dad was a diabetic… there was no getting around taking insulin. There are also lots of people with a genetic predisposition to things like high blood pressure, or cholesterol. My brother had a friend who’s very fit and a vegetarian and still has in the 300s… but for most of us, we need to think beyond the numbers, and start thinking about overall health. This is the only body we get. Now I’m just waiting on the results of my thyroid tests… wish me luck!
Katrina Michelle Russell 