Slices of Life

By: Jill Pertler

“It is what it is.”

I’ve said this phrase quite a few times – many even. So much so that now, when I hear someone else fall back on these five words, I understand their secret, sorrowful, message.

It is what it is.

What it means:

I can’t change my current circumstances, but I desperately wish I could.

Life isn’t fair, and right now it feels very unfair.

I feel defeated. Empty. Up against all odds.

I want to cry, but don’t want to right now because I’m all cried out.

I feel very, very alone.

I need a hug.

And so on. (You get the gist.)

It is what it is. Sigh.

It is a sadness we...