How to Dwell On Everything 101

The piece tells the story of Chris, a young man working as an assistant for a high profile celebrity. Chris’s life is dictated around his relentless effort to balance all the different aspects of his life. Due to the lack of recognition in his field of work, Chris tends to feel discredited and worthless. This makes him feel unsafe and he is led to overthink everything in a futile attempt to keep a sense of control. Caught between professional demands and a neglected personal life, Chris clings to the belief that his sacrifices will pay off in the future. To cope, he constructs and reconstructs narratives to keep himself moving, to stay functional amid the pressure.

Through Chris’s experience, How to Dwell On Everything 101 opens a broader conversation about the frantic pace many young people adopt to survive whilst associating personal worth with professional recognition. The piece invites us to examine the narratives we tell ourselves—and the cost of constantly trying to hold everything together.