Dreams are free. I'm not

Whenever reality turns impossibly brutal, I switch to dreaming. Ever since I was a kid, this weird magic has blown my mind - it’s like my body and brain get teleported to a completely different timeline, molecule by molecule. ​One minute I’m a Maya warrior or an Egyptian queen, the next I’m an explorer hacking through the Amazon or a hermit hiding out in the desert. I can test-drive a thousand different lives in my head and star in insane adventures. ​Look, I get it - at the end of the day, I still have to drag myself back to a reality that scorches me from the inside, eats through me like acid, leaves nasty scars, and offers zero sense of safety. But I come back carrying the muscle memory of a warrior, a queen, a hermit, an explorer. These daydreams act like my personal force field; they’re the only thing hinting that maybe, just maybe, things could be different. (Digital drawing, 2026)