I am waiting for something I’m not sure I can really wait for – I’m waiting for myself to change. I’m waiting for that moment when I’m sure I’m ready to take on a challenge that I’ve set before myself for weeks…for months, maybe even years. I know I’m not going to change unless I actually take action, and yet, it seems uncomfortable that I would attempt to do so without waiting. Perhaps I should take the time to reconsider what it actually takes to enact change in my life, and what change feels like.

If I were truly honest about our everyday ritual of asking how people are, I think I would come to know that there are people just like me who experience everyday turmoil and struggles. Not everyone has a perfect life, even though it might seem to be so on the outside. We put on masks for our social lives – performances, even, as a prominent sociologist might say – and the response we give to an individual person’s question of “How are you?” is one of them. So is how we ask that question. Performances help with the maintenance of our self-esteem, but perhaps we would benefit from straying from them occasionally and being more candid with one another. I think I would benefit, too. Sometimes, I ask myself if I really am “good” when I answer that way.