I turned 26

Reading Time: 2 minutes on the first of May. I am always grateful to have been born on Labor Day, and grateful for a life I live contingent on so many hands who have built for me, as distant as the world tries to pull us apart. I don’t want to say I feel punished for being born in the Philippines because there is no truth in that—that identity is all that I am and all that I will return to. But on turning 26 and seeing how difficult life is and will continue to be, I wonder if all of it was necessary. I am distant from the world and owe everything to it, and nothing of it I owe. I continue to fail, and fail, and fail; I continue to disappoint, and break, and hurt people; I am weak, shallow, and incomplete. I love the dignity of work, and I want everyone to find a sense of sanctity in what they do. I think the relations most people have with other people is something I will never have, and that is ok I must continue giving all of my life I am so unfortunately a product of my…