Human by Jina Wallwork

Every smile hides a struggle. No life is graced by constant joy. If we only experienced happiness then it would come at a great cost. Each human being is a complex emotional puzzle. When we’re trying to understand ourselves, we look at every part of the puzzle and it might seem like a pile of broken pieces. We all spiral down through the emotions that we describe as negative. We grieve, we cry, we question our own worth, and all of these things make us human.

Happiness is often portrayed as the true objective of any life, but in its pursuit, we attempt to distance ourselves from our own humanity. We imagine that it’s possible to escape who we are and we lose the ability to accept ourselves and the world around us. I am the struggles that have come to define me and I am the tears that I have wiped away. It is these things that make me human. This is where my humanity sings to my soul and tells me that we are all the same.