When I look at pictures of myself from earlier years, I can’t help but notice the youthfulness gone awry. Where did those bags under my eyes come from? Was it the late nights with newborns? Was it days upon days of crying when struck with grief? Was it stress caused by the lack of work-life balance? Was it unnecessary arguments that never needed to take place?

When I think about my day to day emotions, I’m tired. The monotony of the days and the frantic fights between tiny humans. The anguished tears that need tending to and the spills and messes of our lives. It is sometimes exhausting to think about facing another day, despite the many blessings that exist within the hours.

When I think about the world I’m raising my children in, I’m tired. How can we possibly be as we are in our current time? In so many ways, I feel like we’ve come so far and yet injustice and inequality exist. It’s exhausting to think about how people treat others when it seems to simple to be kind.

I have teamed up with a wonderful team of bloggers who participate in “Five Minute Friday.” Here’s the skinny: Every Friday for nearly four years, hundreds of people across the world join in on a writing flash mob. We write for five minutes flat. All on the same prompt that is posted by the the team starting at 10pm EST on Thursday night and all through Friday. And we connect on Twitter with the hashtag #FMFParty (It stands for Five Minute Friday Party). No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation. Unscripted. Unedited. Real.

Today’s word: Tired.