Olivia Arocena

Writer and Editor

Olivia has been an official writer since the day she published her first poetry book at just 19 years old, but she’s been an unofficial writer since forever. After that came the publication of her Diaries, which she had been writing for most of her late teens and continues to do so today. One lucky day, she finally managed to merge her offline writing with her online persona and craft a blog, where she publishes more polished pieces aimed at a curious audience that can’t keep track of her many talents. She graduated from Drama School and is currently studying Linguistics. She is also chronically online, an avid reader, and a singer. A fascination with the many ways humans communicate is what drives her work and interests.

Not many things are as frustrating in the dating world as discovering that somebody you thought was the perfect guy wasn’t perfect at all. If we’re lucky enough, this kind of thing happens early, and we’re attentive enough to see it and take action. After an event like this, we can get caught up in any sort of justification for our significant

‘I met his college best friends at a pub and he instantly morphed into a loud, obnoxious alpha bro’: Woman wonders if she is overreacting or if the perfect guy she was dating suddenly dropped his mask

Do we get married to please family and friends? I don’t think the concept of marriage is independent of gatherings and celebrations; the origins of marriage as a ceremony are directly linked to community, family, and groups. It was originally a celebration precisely orchestrated within society and a ritual that symbolized a passage from one role inside it

A couple gets secretly engaged, then secretly married, and ends up disappointing their loved ones when they eventually find out: ‘From our perspective, we didn't do it to exclude anyone or because we don't love our families and friends’

Oh no! The consequences of my own actions Facing reality can sometimes be hard; one can realize that one was living well beyond one’s means, or that one lost not only a relationship but also a specific lifestyle. To me, separations come with th

‘We should’ve just stayed living together and tried to reconcile the relationship’: 25-year-old man warns his ex-girlfriend that if she moves to an expensive apartment, she will be living paycheque to paycheque

Fantasy job search. This employee should’ve gotten a job in acting; the way he pulled a performance and everybody believed it. I’ve exaggerated things on my curriculum when I was young, not to the extent of lying, but there were some exaggerations here and there, and I still didn’t get hired!

Employee lies on his resume and gets hired at a high-paying IT company, and now struggles with his day-to-day and fears yearly evaluation: 'My buddy basically taught me everything I know and helped me learn as I go'

To have a guilty conscience The most ridiculous part of this story is that the supposedly betrayed part is not even angry. The only one who’s freaking out is the one who has a guilty conscience. It’s sad how you can find out, years later, that not all of your friends have the capacity to have an honest, heart-to-heart conversation. Maybe you used to kee

40-year-old man realizes his soon-to-be ex-wife is dating his friend, who has now blocked him everywhere: ‘How would you feel? I’m told a real friend wouldn’t do that’

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‘I genuinely feel like I’m watching a real-life Mean Girls spinoff play out in real time’: Employee notices his colleagues are constantly aggressively gossiping about everyone else, and they are also doing it to each other

We all want the best for our partners; we want them to do well at their jobs, to get a raise, to reach their goals. Sometimes, we also want them to look their best because we see them with our loving eyes, know they are the prettiest in the room, and we want them to shine at all times. But what happens when what’s driving our partner's actions is not nece

36-year-old man constantly ‘fixes’ and critiques his 34-year-old girlfriend’s appearance: ‘When I tell him it bothers me, he says I'm taking it personally and that he just wants me to “look my best”’

Money is a sensitive topic Maybe this will only be understood by people who have gone through a hard time economically. The woman who posted this story mentioned growing up with financial stress, and I can relate. Some people react to that financial instability growing up by becoming super cautious and responsible with money, and others do exactly the opposite; they become extreme spenders and compensate by spending all they couldn't spend while they were growing up. Paradoxically, the second a

20-year-old woman exposes her 21-year-old sister by saying she always pays for everything: ‘She got upset and said she never knew I thought like that, and maybe I should start taking money from her’

Was it fate or pure luck? The way the OP narrates the story is a bit messy, but to me, it’s profoundly revealing. It confesses a desire to be rescued from his position without necessarily having t

Underperforming employee covers another position when the worker goes on leave and turns out to be much better at it; another employee wonders if he was also hired for the wrong job: 'There's no analytics-person-goes-on-leave accident coming to rescue me'

I’ve read this kind of story many times from different angles, but something seems to happen around the quiet workers, or the quiet team members in general. I think it gets especially difficult in places like work because there are many employees, and managers often can’t keep track of everyone. The ones who get noticed are the ones who make themselves noticeable

Manager realizes he is losing a very valuable employee only after she leaves and asks for recommendations to identify “quiet performers” before they walk out: ‘Is it just asking better questions, or is there something structural that actually works?’