jessa

Everyday Stories, Lived

Relationships

  • Lost in the nuance

    I can remember a bleak image of my mother setting up a Motorola landline so that we could call her and she could reach out to us whenever she was at work. Having her set it up at home was also exciting, as one always gets when getting a new tech. Reaching out to our… Read more


    in

  • A place is only as good as our company

    When my friend and I were walking along a street with fine restaurants all lined up and filled with people in conversation and laughter, I told her how nice it is to be in one and experience what it’s like to enjoy the ambiance and their menu. But the experience won’t be as fulfilling as… Read more


    in

  • Talking to an AI

    When I was told I’d be interviewed by an AI, I had the assumption that the experience would feel detached. Because how can I relate to someone without a face? I relied so much on verbal AND non-verbal cues during interviews that I needed to see the facial expressions and movements of my interviewer to… Read more


    in

  • The liberation I felt after reducing my Facebook use

    After spending hours reading long reads, I suddenly had a burst of desire to create something tangible that others could interact with, such as this blog post. I was feeling the excitement to type and get something published, feeling the overflow of thoughts and ideas that I could no longer contain inside my head. I… Read more


    in

  • The things we hide

    So we hide away the unpleasant, like crumbs under the bed, thinking that putting away the hurt makes the hurt go away. But they never go away. They would only chew bit by bit the sanity we try to hold. Until we break. Read more


    in

  • Still left me empty

    Want to know the perfect metaphor for modern self-help? It’s a billion-dollar industry teaching us how to love ourselves while making it impossible to love each other. It’s a massive machine that runs on loneliness, powered by isolation, fueled by disconnection. It’s the ultimate expression of late-stage capitalism: the commodification of human completion. The Great… Read more


    in

  • Poking a wasp nest

    When I was young, I learned that poking a wasp nest stirs the wasps, and the next thing you do is run away as fast as you can because the wasps will hunt you down. The lesson I learned was that wasps are not aggressive until you disturb their peace. And who doesn’t like peace,… Read more


    in