Repeat: The Lowercase Version of Okay
I am not writing my blog right now because I realized mid-August that it felt like a burden instead of a release. I am too sad, navigating the twins leaving for college. I scheduled these posts that day so the blog wouldn’t be empty, but I could pull back and use the time left with the twins. A cop-out, but forgive me. Having them go is really, really hard. I need mental space to feel what I am feeling, help the kids through the transition, and sit in the quiet for a moment on the other side.
I feel like for the last several years, society as a whole has been in a war against the word okay. We curate our lives online to look happy. We read books about how to gain happiness, either directly when we’re talking about Gretchen Rubin, or indirectly when we have people presenting happiness as the side effect that comes from decluttering your life like Marie Kondo. We go on wellness retreats to regain happiness in our life and talk about finding bliss through ordering the perfect meal and hang inspirational quotes on our walls that we find in kitschy stores.
And all of that is okay. Really, it’s okay. I think it is wonderful to strive towards happiness.
But in this world we’ve created, okay becomes the last rung on the happiness ladder before one steps off into the abyss, the lowest appropriate thing a person is allowed to say as an answer to the question, “how are you?”
2 comments
I know you scheduled these in advance, but wow, did this hit home for me today. <3
I am enjoying reading these because I have not seen many of these before because I did not start reading your blog until later.
This one is particularly relevant for me because this is pretty much how I answer when things are most certainly not okay. I answer with okay.