Harris Sockel

Sep 21

18 stories

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Some of My Favorite Personal Essays

"I still don’t know how she wriggled her way in; the space was much too small. Yet, with a circus performer’s know-how, she folded herself up into a shape that fit. I imagine she was suffused with triumph and satisfaction. I imagine that satisfaction lasted about five seconds, at which point she noticed the nails, their sharp sides pointed directly at her. That’s when she started screaming."
"You don’t have to have an opinion. You don’t need to make a judgment. I know that doesn’t sound like liberation, because we live and work in an opinion-based economy. But it is. Not having an opinion means not having an obligation. And not being obligated is one of the sweetest of life’s riches."
"People do not choose to fail or disappoint. No one wants to feel incapable, apathetic, or ineffective. If you look at a person’s action (or inaction) and see only laziness, you are missing key details. There is always an explanation."
"I am 24 and on a date with a nice man and he asks me what my greatest fear is, which I guess is the kind of thing people ask on first dates. I think, and realize I know my answer: I’m scared that the children I do not yet have will die while I am still alive."