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The Messy Optimist

Travel Writer. Lifestyle Blogger. Gift-Guides Curator. Humorist. Storyteller.

  • Home
  • About
  • Humor / Satire / Prose Poem
  • Short Stories
    • Fiction
    • Flash Fiction
    • Tales from a Marriage
    • The Ella and Emma Chronicles
    • When Say-It-Like-It-Is-Uncle Speaks We Listen
  • Living With Grief
  • Ele Columns
  • Women’s Web Columns

Newly Published Material

Flash Fiction

Dazed and Confused (Kitaab)

Maria’s Speech About Weighty Issues (Free Flash Fiction)

Keeping Up With The Robertsons (Free Flash Fiction)

Lily/Lily (Free Flash Fiction)

A Day in the Life of a Chili (Free Flash Fiction)

A day in life of a chilli

Secrets of a Marriage #LongTermCoupleGoals (Free Flash Fiction)

secrets of a marraige

Grief-stricken (Free Flash Fiction)

Grief stricken
Grief-stricken – Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash

She and Him (Free Flash Fiction)

she and him
She and Him – Photo by Elizabeth Tsung on Unsplash

Variety is the Spice of Life – The Lark Magazine

Variety is the Spice of Life – Photo by Bence Halmosi on Unsplash

The Ella and Emma Chronicles —Relationship Advice

The Ella and Emma Chronicles —Relationship Advice – Photo by Ignat Kushanrev on Unsplash

The Ella and Emma Chronicles — Hustling (The Lark Magazine)

The Ella and Emma Chronicles — Hustling

The Bargaining Powers of Love (The Lark Magazine)

The Bargaining Powers of Love – Photo by Jay Wennington on Unsplash

The Teenage Fashionista – when Rhea schooled her mom on how fashion works (The Lark Magazine)

The Teenage Fashionista – Photo by Ahmed Carter on Unsplash

The Geek – (The Lark Magazine)

The Geek – Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash

Conversations With Uncle Carl: Marriage Equality (The Lark Magazine)

Conversations With Uncle Carl: Marriage Equality – Photo by Eugene Zhyvchik on Unsplash


Humor/Satire

Daily Itinerary of Mark Who Shows How Hard it is to Pretend to Work Hard – The Belladonna Comedy

LISTENING IN ON ONE-SIDED CONVERSATIONS THAT CELEBRITY PR AGENTS HAVE WITH CELEBRITY JOURNALISTS ON TOPICS THEIR CLIENTS WILL NOT TALK ABOUT – A Thin Slice of Anxiety

AMERICAN IMMIGRATION OFFICER EXPLAINS WHY MELANIA TRUMP DESERVES THE EINSTEIN GREEN CARD WHILE LEGIT PUBLISHED AUTHORS WITH DOCTORATES DO NOT – A Thin Slice of Anxiety

Grandpa’s Tips To Other Grandparents On How To Get Your Family’s Attention – Slackjaw

Grandpa’s Tips To Other Grandparents On How To Get Your Family’s Attention – Photo by Adam Nieścioruk on Unsplash

Savvy Auntie Tips For Raising A Teenager – Frazzled

Savvy Auntie Tips For Raising A Teenager – Photo by Anton Darius on Unsplash

AN ODE TO MEN LIKE JASON WHO ARE ‘MORE FEMINIST THAN WOMEN THEMSELVES’ – A Thin Slice of Anxiety

WE ALL CAN BE BOTH – A Thin Slice of Anxiety

5 Reasons Why I Love Van Life For The Very Reasons Everyone Else Hates It – Greener Pastures Magazine

5 Reasons Why I Love Van Life For The Very Reasons Everyone Else Hates It – Photo by Caleb George on Unsplash

Entitled Teenager Explains How To Handle Whiny Moms – The Haven

Entitled Teenager Explains How To Handle Whiny Moms – Photo by Mo Idris on Unsplash

List: Life Lessons To learn From Watching Over 300+ Hours Of Grey’s Anatomy

List: Life Lessons To learn From Watching Over 300+ Hours Of Grey’s Anatomy – Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

I Forgot My Phone At Home And, Unfortunately, The World Did NOT Come To An End on The Writers’ Blokke

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Students – on The Writers’ Blokke

Why I Can Watch Jason Statham Do Nothing But Read A Telephone Directory. Or Watch Him Order Chinese Food – on The Writers’ Blokke

Fiction

Tales From a Marriage Series

Kitaab

Short Story: Tales from a Marriage – Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi(Because A Mother-in-law Was Once a Daughter-in-law) by Roopa Swaminathan

Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (Because A Mother-in-law Was Once a Daughter-in-law)

Eksentrika

SHORT STORY | Tales From A Marriage – Toxic Masculinity by Roopa Swaminathan

Women’s Web

Tales From A Marriage: When Is It Time To Say – Enough Is Enough?

Tales from a Marriage – When Is It Time To Say – Enough Is Enough

***************************************************************************************************************

Creative Non-Fiction (Grief)

Kitaab

Living With Grief – Going From IS to WAS by Roopa Swaminathan

KITAAB: Essay: ​Living With Grief – Going From IS to WAS by Roopa Swaminathan

Eksentrika

Living With Grief And The Last Time You See Them

6 Heartbreaking Outcomes of Grief that Nobody Prepares you For.

These 10 Quotes on Grief Wrecked me & then put me Back Together.

Don’t Wait for Tomorrow—Why we should Start Documenting our Loved Ones’ Lives Today.

Remembering these 2 truths Helped me Navigate Grief.

Living with Grief: 12 Things to Expect After a Loss

Living with Grief: 12 Things to Expect After a Loss

The One Question we Should never Ask someone who’s Grieving

The One Question we Should never Ask someone who’s Grieving

Essays / Opinion

Elephant Journal

Life & Time wait for No One: 5 Things I was Crazy about a Decade Ago that I No Longer Use.

A 6-Word Phrase that Annoys the F*ck Out of Me when all I’m Looking for is Support.

Routines vs Rituals—& why we Need Both to Live a Peaceful Life.

9 (More) Quotes that showed me I can Be Alone, Feel Lonely & Still Be Okay.

Navigating Two Lives: How I Found Myself somewhere between Individual Culture & Collective Culture.

Surrogacy: A Godsend to women or Taking the easy way out?

Doing Wellness Right: How I Grade myself on the 6 Pillars of Personal Well-Being.

Yes, I can be Vapid & Frivolous. No, I won’t Apologize for It.

11 Gut-Wrenching Quotes that are teaching me How to Forgive.

When Nostalgia Strikes: Why I (sometimes) Miss the Lost Art of Letter Writing.

3 (More) Types of Courage that can help us Master whatever Sh*t Life throws our Way.

3 Types of Courage that can help us Master whatever Sh*t Life throws our Way.|

Why Rob Lowe’s Firefighter Character on “9-1-1: Lonestar” is the Masculine Role Model our World Needs.

“It’s Not Me. It’s You.”—the Surprising Emotion I felt after Breaking Up with a Once Close Friend. 

10 Quotes that showed me I can Be Alone, Feel Lonely & Still Be Okay.

Why the Best Gift we can give is a Heartfelt Compliment—& 10 Unique Ones to Share.

We’re Never “Too Old to Change”—We just have to Want it Bad Enough.

Stopping to Smell the Roses: What Finally convinced me to Start Living in the Moment.

15 Life-Changing Quotes that helped me Understand (& Check) my Own Privilege.

Orange may be the New Black. But is Chelsea Handler the New…Kindness?

15 Quotes that Inspired me to Stop being a Jerk & Start being more Kind.

Why we Shouldn’t Take the High Road or the Low Road but should always Take the Smart Road.

10 Life-Changing Quotes that taught me to Be Still, Be Happy & Own my Place in the World.

Why I hate Jeff Bezos & the Waltons but still shop at Amazon & Walmart.

How becoming Emotionally Independent gave me permission to Live a Bold, Brave Life. 

Don’t Wait for Tomorrow—Why we should Start Documenting our Loved Ones’ Lives Today. 

Can we (& should we) Forgive the Other Woman?

Why it’s Okay to be Strong AF & still want to be Taken Care of (at least Sometimes).

Why Women need to Fight to Hold on to Women-Centric Professions.

Is Sisterhood only about Supporting Women or should it Call Women Out as Well?

Why I won’t Tolerate Society’s BS Double Standard toward Single Women Anymore.

We Don’t have to Forgive or Forget to Move the F*ck On.

Ghosting: Lack of Courtesy or a Gen Z Thing?

Why we Need to Stop Shaming Older Moms (Seriously).

I’m no Longer a Black & White or a Shades of Grey Person (& I’m Not Sorry About It).

Remembering these 2 truths Helped me Navigate Grief.

The Real, Heartbreaking Reason why I can Never be a Volunteer.

I Never want to Retire, but I want to be Financially Secure.

Why Using the word F*ck is Cathartic (& Good for You).

The Love of my Life isn’t my Soul Mate—& I’m A-OK with That.|

Friendship Ghosting is Real (& Yes, Women still Dump their Girlfriends—for a Dude)

The Insidious Nature of Racism can Turn even a Good Person Bad

The Day I forgot my Phone

Choosing to live here was the Best Decision of my Life!

Ladies, Before you Travel Solo, ask yourself this One Important Question.

Let’s Talk about Age-Inappropriate Relationships & the Casual Misogyny of it All.

Bad Boys: Why we Fall for them (& why “I can change him” Never Works).

12 almost Painless Steps to getting a Successful Travel Visa

Women’s Web

Ask Yourself These Really Tough Questions Before You Decide To Start Travelling Solo!

Why Rajkummar Rao Marrying Patralekha Made Me Sigh In Relief

Why Is Newly-Married Malala Yousafzai Facing Trolling & Extreme Opinions Instead of Good Wishes?

16 Invaluable Safety Tips For The Solo Woman Traveler In India That Could Save Your Life

5 Steps I Took To Stop My Own Discriminatory Behaviour!

I Wonder Why Every Actress Wants To Be With Ranbir Kapoor. I’ve Also Loved ‘Bad Boys’ But Now I Find Them Boring!

Bollywood Is Realising That Hounding Out Older Leading Ladies Is Bad Business

Planning A Foreign Trip? Here Are 12 Easy Tips To Get A Successful Visa!

What’s The Male Equivalent Of Slut And Why It Matters

Simone Biles Pulling Out Of The Olympics – Sensible, Brave Choice Or Not?!

Princess Dai’s Niece Marries: Older Bride Priyanka Was ‘Aunty’ But Patriarchy Ok With Groom As Old As Dad?

How Pa Ranjith Transformed A Boxing Saga From The 1970s Into A Modern Day Tour-de-force

Why Fahadh Faasil’s Malik Was Just Meh For Me

About Me

Hi! I’m Roopa. I handle life’s messiness with a smile on my face. I’m also a solo woman travel writer. A lifestyle blogger. I curate budget-friendly gift guides and printables. I’m a funny person who is also a storyteller and entertainer. Finally, I’m a vegetarian foodaholic (and no…that’s NOT an oxymoron)! Welcome to The Messy Optimist. Learn more about me here…

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