I carried groceries in with both arms full and realised I had not bought a single thing only because I like it

Dear Delyara, Milk, bread, cereal, fruit, cleaning spray, packed-lunch things, yoghurt, potatoes, pasta, toilet roll. Everything in those bags had a function. Everything had already been justified before it even reached the till. I put them on the kitchen counter and suddenly felt the quiet sadness of a life lived around necessity. Not because necessity is shameful. Because when every purchase is decided by cost, usefulness, and whether other people will need it, a woman can quietly disappear from her own choices without anyone ever intending harm. I stood there with the receipt in my hand thinking: I am here, but where am I?