On Being Young, Scrappy, and (Sometimes) Satisfied
Remain forever hungry, or enjoy the tried-and-true? Sometimes, I learned, it’s okay to double down on the life you have.
I’m becoming so lazy and boringInertia is winning.
everythingJobs wasn’t wrong: There can be something thrilling in precarity, something energizing in dissatisfaction. Now I’m not interested in either staying hungry or staying satiated—I’m interested in surveying what I have and letting the desire well up of its own accord; in feeling hungry when I find something that is lacking, and satisfied when I have what I need.
Angela Chen is a science journalist and the author of Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex, which was named one of the best books of 2020 by NPR, Electric Literature, and Them. Her reporting and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, MIT Technology Review, The Guardian, National Geographic, Paris Review, Lapham's Quarterly, and more.
Enter your email address to receive notifications for author Angela Chen
Success!
Confirmation link sent to your email to add you to notification list for author Angela Chen
More by this author
Writing a Book About Asexuality Taught Me to Look for a Fate Beyond Numbers
I learned to reevaluate the meaning of ‘normal’ in relationships, and also my habit of reflexively turning to data.
How I Learned to Tell Signal from Noise and Appreciate Calm
It can be easy to confuse real emotion with the shiny drama enfolding it. Sometimes grand gestures are signs of grand feeling—sometimes they’re not.
How We Create Personal Myths, and Why They Matter
My parental separation was vastly less traumatic than what is happening to children at the border. But this narrative lives inside me.
More in this series
Genetic Testing Can Tell You a Lot About Yourself—But What If You Don’t Want to Know?
I wanted the most information possible and thought I had nothing to fear. Then my mother began to lose her memory.
Can Desire or Love Be Predicted?
Data versus the real world: what compatibility algorithms can’t tell you.