⧉ the lie of fairness ⧉

Life loves to pretend  

it’s balanced—  

that effort guarantees outcome,  

that goodness earns reward,  

that pain arrives with purpose  

instead of randomness.  

We grow up hearing  

that everything evens out,  

that what we give  

returns to us,  

that the universe keeps score  

like some invisible judge  

with perfect memory.  

But watch long enough  

and you’ll see the fracture:  

good people break,  

cruel people thrive,  

timing plays favorites,  

and chance decides more  

than character ever will.  

Still, we cling to the myth  

because the alternative  

is too heavy—  

that fairness isn’t a law,  

just a story we inherited  

to make chaos feel survivable.  

Maybe the uncomfortable truth  

is that life isn’t fair  

or unfair.  

It’s indifferent.  

And the only justice  

we ever really find  

is the kind we create  

in the small corners  

we can actually touch.  

-LR 🩶