Bearing the Burden of Under-Eye Bags

Most of us night owls can function just as well as the early to bed squad but our pesky dark circles blow our cover every time, revealing just how much sleep we actually got last night and make us subject to a whole lot of criticism. 

"What do you do all night?"
I've been asked this question too many times already, often by the same people, and I still, to this day, have no definite answer for this. Time flies, taking me with it. Sometimes, I'll casually look at the clock and see it's 5 a.m. and I'm still wide awake with no clue what I had been doing for hours. Please just assume I was being highly productive and leave me alone.

"You must be tired"
We are all utterly exhausted with life at this point and my dark circles are scars from the wounds life has inflicted on me and I wear them with pride, as we all should.

"Really? I thought you were older!"
Do people mistake dark circles for wrinkles? When I was younger and sleep was a friend I had for sufficient amounts of time, people used to think I was younger than I actually was. Now that I adorn my face with the darkest of circles, it seems I've begun to age at a higher rate. Perhaps we associate dark circles with adults who work hard day and night and so having them automatically means you're a hardworking old person.

"So that's why you get good grades/get things done"

I actually enjoy this assumption. Yes, of course I was studying or working all night and not watching random YouTube videos on how to make bubble tea. Maybe we should start encouraging people to stay up late as well, convincing them that they'll get so much done all night, then send them links to videos of cute puppies the entire time, and gradually start building our own insomniac army to turn the tables on the early risers.

"Have you tried concealer?" 
How DARE you try to convince me into hiding the dark circles that make me who I am? The darker they get, the more pride I shall take in them. Although, on second thought, got any concealer tips? I think I'm doing something very wrong since patches of my dark circles keep peeking through, making me look miserably discoloured. Maybe I should just use a lot of eyeliner and go for the panda look. Everybody loves pandas.

The worst scenario of all is when you always get a good night's sleep but wake up to extreme dark circles under your eyes, all because they're genetic. You'll still have to face all the criticism, but you'll have no solution to it. When you try to explain to people how it's all genetic, they'll most probably laugh at you and think you're trying to cover up your bad sleeping habits. If you're one of these people, I pray you will someday find solace in this horror film you call life.

Mayabee Arannya is a confused soul still searching for a purpose. Give her advice on life at facebook.com/mayabee.arannya