Opportunity cost is an economic term, but its most painful examples often play out in human relationships. It describes what we give up when we choose one path over another. When someone chooses to spend their time and energy hating—tracking enemies, nursing grudges, and relitigating conflicts—the opportunity cost isn’t abstract. It’s measured in friendships that…
Mental Health
Eron Vito Mazza on Sacred Queerness
As a queer person who grew up in deep red rural Oklahoma, I was bombarded with the notion that my feelings and my existence were wrong. I was taught to be ashamed of my body and the pleasure it was built for. Whether it was by a sermon telling me I deserved death, or society…
A Listening Ear, and So Much More: SQSH to the Rescue
Sometimes, you just need someone to talk to. For Luka Cai, that someone was hard to find growing up in Singapore — especially when it came to their queer identity. “I never had any positive queer or trans role models growing up,” they say, “so I had a lot of internalized transphobia.” Cai — trans-masculine,…