Jacky's Corner

  There is a particular kind of sweetness that lives entirely in the mind. It arrives quietly. A glance. A passing thought. Then suddenly, butterflies. Little ones at first, then whole flocks. One moment I was going about my days, doing my work, showing up to social settings. The next, I realized my attention had slipped elsewhere. Not to a place, but to a person. Or rather, to a version of a person I had carefully built in my head. In that private world, we had a story. A beginning. A future. A life that felt warm, comforting, and oddly complete. The fantasy was tender. It felt like a soft blanket I could wrap myself in whenever reality felt dull or demanding. I started craving it. Wanting phone calls to end so I could return to it. Wanting social moments to finish quickly so I could be alone with my thoughts. Slowly, subtly, it began to affect how I showed up in real life. I grew impatient. Distracted. Slightly irritable. Tasks that should have been easy felt heavy because my m...

  There is a moment many women recognize instantly. Nothing dramatic happens. No raised voices. No obvious line is crossed. Yet something shifts quietly inside you. A comment lands, and your body reacts before your mind does. A friend recently shared such a moment. A colleague complimented her dress. Then her figure. Then her discipline. Yoga, meditation, the gym. Polite responses followed. The exchange lasted minutes. No insults. No threats. Just words that, on the surface, could easily be framed as harmless. Then came the turn. “You know,” he said, “abroad this would be called sexual harassment.” Suddenly, she was on trial for a conversation she hadn’t initiated. Asked whether she felt uncomfortable, not because he cared, but because the question itself shifted responsibility onto her. In that moment, confusion replaced clarity. If she said yes, she risked being labelled oversensitive. If she said no, she silently consented to discomfort she couldn’t quite name. This is t...

  If your workplace is anything like mine right now, it’s assessment season. That period where we gather proof of our performance, package it up, and present it. And I’ll be honest: no matter how well I’ve done, this process always makes me pause. For a moment, I look at the blank document meant to hold my achievements and think, “Did I even work this period? Was I even walking?” It’s a funny feeling. You know you’ve been moving, bit by bit, every single day. You’ve solved problems, sent emails, finished projects, helped colleagues. Yet, when asked to showcase it, it can suddenly feel invisible like you have to defend your very existence at your desk. But here’s the powerful shift I’m choosing to make this year. I’m refusing to see this as a defense. I’m choosing to see it as a celebration. This process is my once-a-year (or every few years) invitation to stop, look back, and truly see the path I’ve walked. It forces me to ask the big questions: What was I hired to do? Hav...