The Lipstick, Coffee, Laundry Loop

Beauty isn’t perfection. It’s persistence.It’s the art of showing up.

This week, I found myself caught once again in the lipstick–coffee–laundry loop. You surely know the one: where the coffee cools faster than your thoughts, the laundry waits like a patient monster, and somehow, you still manage to smile. No grand revelations this time, just life moving in its quiet rhythm — a little messy, astoundingly beautiful, and entirely real.
This one’s for the women who keep showing up — tired, tender, and still beautiful in the chaos.

I can’t say this week has been particularly dramatic. There were no grand revelations, no life-altering moments. Just life moving peacefully along its usual rhythm: school, home, exhaustion, collapse into sleep, repeat.

And yet, beneath that rhythm, a quiet ache hums and murmurs like a hive of bees — an amalgam of fatigue, tenderness, and that perpetual desire to be seen. To be acknowledged.

I’ve been thinking about how many of us women live inside what I like to call the lipstick–coffee–laundry–loop.

Most mornings begin in the same way: lipstick smudged halfway through the first, joyful sip of coffee; bewilderment at the closet when you can’t decide what to wear; the looming laundry pile waiting like a patient monster in the corner. Somewhere between preparing breakfast, gathering books and notebooks, and answering emails in one stress-laced breath, you’re already late for your second cup.

You always promise yourself an early night, but the perpetually loaded sink, the lesson plans, and the endless “Mama, where’s my—?” have other plans.

And still, in spite of it all, you manage to smile. Not because everything is perfect, but because somehow this chaos feels like life — messy, unfiltered, and unapologetically yours.

I often find myself amazed at the countless invisible miracles we perform each day — teaching, tending, listening, managing, soothing — often without applause. Sometimes without even so much as a thank you. It’s no wonder the mirror feels heavier some mornings, or that the simple act of putting on makeup and lipstick feels like armor rather than self-care.

Still, here’s the quiet truth I’ve learned over the years: it’s okay to want to be seen. It’s okay to crave acknowledgment, to whisper, “I’m tired.”

Strength isn’t found in pretending to do it all effortlessly. It’s found in admitting that you’re human — flawed, tired, but still showing up anyway.

Beauty isn’t perfection. It’s persistence.
It’s the art of showing up — again and again — for your family, for your work, and yes, for yourself.

So if today all you managed was a cup of coffee and a half-folded pile of laundry, I applaud you. You’ve done enough. Truly.

What’s one small act that helps you feel seen, even on the most ordinary of days?

Thank you for reading…✨

If this little rant from the chaotic mind of an overworked teacher brought you a moment of stillness, I’m glad.
I believe silence is a kind of grace, and that stories (or rants), too, can offer us rest.

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You make this quiet corner of the internet feel like home.

With ink and light and, maybe an essence of vanilla,

Lia✨