From childhood, we are taught that being good means being calm, compliant, and tidy. Wise and kind people suggest helping us to become worthy, positive, productive, and always ready to say, "yes, I can do it!".
But most often, the constant striving to be better and meet societal expectations wears us out and destroys us.
Rebecca Seal, a British journalist and writer, poses radical and uncomfortable questions to the reader about self-acceptance, one’s own imperfections, and the rejection of the society-imposed cult of success, productivity, and external perfection.
The author suggests reconsidering traditional notions of such "vices" as laziness, anxiety, and excessive emotionality, arguing that these qualities can be very useful.
She does not urge one to suddenly become bad and inconvenient, but rather suggests reflecting on how to accept every part of oneself without conforming to the templates created by society.