Glitched Eden #1

When was the last time you were truly happy? Happy without a checklist of “if only I had this”? Happy like a child — right here, right now, completely present, not hiding in the past, not waiting for the future? Probably a long time ago. It’s strange — we are all born holding the keys to Eden. Children see the world perfectly: they marvel at everything, believe in magic, accept themselves entirely — every finger, every hair, every naive drawing, every silly joke. Children remember. They know how to live, not just exist. They don’t need a promised paradise — they live in one. Then adults and society take away those keys, break them, and replace them with distorted lenses. Through them, the new person sees a glitched, cruel, broken world. Real joy fades, replaced with synthetic pleasures — tiny highs full of bitterness and emptiness. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why cripple generation after generation? Why settle for a counterfeit paradise, this glitched Eden, when once we held the real one? Can we still remember it… and find our way back? Digital drawing, 2025