Once I went to the Titanic museum, a tourist trap if there ever was one, and came to the exhibit with water that mimicked the temperature of the Atlantic in April. I put my hand in that cold water, and I knew it was supposed to make me think about how awful it was to plunge into water and freeze, and I felt nothing.

Then I kept walking though that same museum and came to the part where you were supposed to walk up different “decks” of the Titanic, each of which imitated the ship’s incline at different points of the night. This was supposed to be the fun part, and there were kids scrambling around everywhere, and I stood tilted on those wood planks and I cried. Because I knew people died on the Titanic, but I never thought about the fact that they slid off of it. I never thought about the fact that they must’ve been afraid. Continue reading →

I think sometimes we use relationships as a shortcut to happiness.

And yes, it would be easier to be happy if everything was glossed over with that warm, heart-squeezing feeling that comes when things are really good with someone.

It’s not that I think that’s a bad thing. I don’t begrudge it of the people who have it. Continue reading →