By Livia Kooker
Breaking the Mold
Working a nine to five
To give my family the best.
Doing anything to stay alive,
Creatures look upon impressed,
White picket fence, green grass.
A hard day of work is ahead.
Get the kids on the bus, they can’t be late for class,
Exhausted at night when I lay in bed.
For is this what I strive?
I will do what I need to pass the test,
And I know I control the drive.
Is it possible for there to be a protest?
2.5 kids and a hard-working husband.
A perfect life, and a happy wife.
For there to be love there must be a diamond,
And never any painful strife.
Of this nuclear family that we revive?
Too scared to jump from our nest,
Working unhappy jobs to survive.
And you ask “then what other life would you suggest?”
~~~
Why don’t we take a step back, and allow ourselves to smell the damn roses.
What may be your dream is not universal.
What is the price of happiness and comfortability?
In this world, we value money overall, and I refuse to live my life this way,
Controlled by false narratives, breaking my back just so I don’t break the bank.
Enough is enough, my love, my happiness comes from comfortably.
It stems from the idea that my profession is something that brings me joy,
and not something that drains me until I become a part of the machine.
I am not a machine,
I am a beating heart, with compassion and contentment with my choices.
I am the hammer that they take to the machine to destroy it,
I am the error in your capitalistic regime.
I am the 7:00 a.m. tides that force the switch,
I am at peace.
I find jubilation through my legacy and my love.
I grasp for a life that fulfills my heart and my family, and I find solace in their joy.
Cheers to happiness, and our freedom.
So do not ask me what it is I am striving for in my life.
Take a moment and consider, maybe I already have everything I could need.
Comfortability is not the danger zone.
Caption:
U is a 43-year-old woman, social worker, mom, and wife from California. She is the daughter of East Asian immigrants who moved here to give their future children a better life with more opportunities. U is a social worker and has found that as she gets older, the only thing she strives for in her life is happiness within her work life, personal life, and family life. She hates the pressure of feeling like she has to always be achieving more and setting higher goals, but she believes that she finds peace in comfortability and stability. She loves her job as a social worker and does not see why she should reach for more when she is happy where she is. U told me that as long as she is fulfilled by the work she’s doing, as long as her husband feels fulfilled from his job, and as long as her 3-year-old son feels loved and cared for, there is not much more she can achieve.
U is…
- 43 Years-Old
- Female, Cisgender
- East Asian
- Atheist
- Upper Middle Class
- Hetero