Happiness on Layaway

It took me two weeks to write this piece. Was I navigating my own thoughts or connections to this blog? Why did it take me a week to write seven short paragraphs? Had I become my own muse?

Happiness is only two feet away, yet so many never reach it. WHY? Because the entrance fee requires authenticity.

As a hairstylist, I’ve become a subject matter expert in human behavior. When your lived experience includes thousands of people, your empirical data is undeniable. No dissertation required.

I see cognitive dissonance in real time every day. There is a gap between how people present themselves in public and how they actually feel when the room is dark everyone is asleep and it’s just them and their thoughts. People are faking happiness.

LAYAWAY

I agree with you-happiness is relative, and it certainly isn't a linear timeline. You also don’t have to have everything figured out to be happy. You just have to be honest about what you’re feeling. Happiness shouldn’t feel like a past core memory from childhood rather than a natural, attainable goal. Why do so many women put their happiness on layaway? We act as if it will just be sitting there waiting for us in twenty or thirty years.

So what happens if you delay joy ? When you finally make time, will it still be there?  Will the emotional cost have risen so significantly that you can no longer afford it? By the time you pay off the balance, you might be too burned out to appreciate the prize.

SCRIPTED

Too many parents spend their energy setting unrealistic standards instead of ensuring their daughters are kind, loving, and pursuing their own dreams. We are taught to check boxes, but what does that truly accomplish?

Life starts to feel like a replay of the same movie featuring different actors. You have the nurse married for a decade with two kids.The woman with no friends and a mother-in-law who moved into the guest room three years ago and never left. The husband who is just a little too friendly with everyone except for his wife.

TRUTH

Everyone is chasing the catalog version of joy. Society creates these benchmarks, filtered photos, and meeting everyone else’s expectations…but when do you establish your own truth? Marriage and traditional milestones don't automatically grant you joy. If you stepped away from what people think your life should look like, what would it actually look like?

Do you want a life that looks good to the world, or a life that actually feels good to you? Stop asking for permission. Change your timeline. Happiness happens today. Keep up!

BLOG | MAY 2026

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