‘I’m Broke and Mostly Friendless, and I’ve Wasted My Whole Life’
oh, man, it appears that this post of mine got unearthed, so let me recommend a narrative (because, well, that’s my thing now, apparently) that serves as… let’s say an antidote for this way of thinking, namely: tuca & bertie’s most recent season (it got revived after getting axed by netflix, in case you haven’t heard!), which explicitly featured the haunted house analogy in its premiere episode, which is available on youtube in its entirety (!)
(spoiler alert: bertie might feel like a haunted house some (well, most) of the time, but that’s okay, actually. her fiancee is an architect obsessed with fixer-uppers, her best friend loves creepy stuff, so they don’t even mind. they still love her, even when she’s being her supernaturally-infested-and-falling-apart self)
also, do read the entire article! it features some good advice, but then again: ask polly is consistently great. i would highly recommend reading her (that is to say, heather havrilesky’s) books, too!