Somewhere between growing up with a list of "do’s" from my parents and a digital feed full of "what not to do" from self-proclaimed life gurus, I realized something: life is basically one giant contradiction wrapped in good intentions and irony.
Let’s unpack, shall we?
The Irony of Advice
I was once told, “Just be yourself, and don’t care what people think!”
Cut to five minutes later, someone squints at my outfit and says it’s “brave, bold, seductive… and maybe not modest enough.”
Hmmm.... brave how?
Brave like I slayed a dragon on the way here?
Or brave like I clearly lost a fight with my closet and wore the consequences?
I wasn’t sure, but suddenly I cared a lot.
Scoreboard: Irony – 1, Me – curled up in self-doubt under a questionable jacket or worse a cardigan that screamed Manang ( old woman's) like fashion.
The Irony of Perfection
Perfection is the goal. But be authentic.
Be confident. But stay humble.
Be yourself. But not too much some parts of you might not be "aesthetic."
But seriously, what even is aesthetic, anyway?
Minimalist neutrals? A curated feed? or just whatever makes other people comfortable with your existence?
The Irony of Self-Care
Bubble baths and face masks as a cure for burnout and stress, never mind the unpaid labor that quietly piles up behind the scenes.
Work-life balance is preached like gospel, but the hustle culture still gets standing ovation.
“Rest is resistance,” they say. But so is pushing through.
So, are we resting agressively now? I don't think so.
I'll admit, I've been guilty of this performative kind of self-care too.
But these days, I'm learning to prioritize rest not just through skincare rituals, but by choosing silence.
Silence from the endless pings of online life.
Silence from the noice of city hustles and people constantly performing productivity.
Sometimes, true self-care is not a scented candle, it is just not being available for everyone.
The Irony of Progress
Thanks to Wi-Fi and mobile gadgets, we’re more connected than ever—yet lonelier than ever.
We chase freedom through routines.
We gain knowledge faster, but somehow lose wisdom in the scroll.
We're evolving, sure, but are we really arriving?
Life, it seems, is full of ironic “what nots.”
Don’t say this. Don’t wear that. Don’t feel too much. Don’t rest too long. Don’t show up too real.
But maybe the trick isn’t to avoid them.
Maybe the real win is to laugh at them, learn from them, and live a little lighter in the process.
So here’s to the irony of what not, the things we’re warned against that somehow end up shaping who we are…
In the best possible, messiest, most gloriously human way.
Cheers to doing it “wrong,” and still turning out just fine.
XO,
Ai