Every child’s magical dream is to see that beautiful, colorful rainbow stretch across the sky after a heavy rainstorm. There’s something so simple and pure about the joy of jumping in puddles, the rain splashing up from rubber boots, and laughter echoing through the air while waiting, almost impatiently, for the rainbow to appear on the horizon.
As an adult, however, my version of waiting for a rainbow has taken on a new form—except now, it’s not the sky I’m watching, but my hand, full of colorful pills. My rainbow isn’t light anymore; it’s made of supplements. It all started with a couple of harmless tablets, and before I knew it, I had an entire assortment of capsules and tablets, from the tiny yellow one to the large, imposing red one to the cheerful green and the mysterious blue. Each has its purpose, of course, most of them dedicated to fighting aging and reducing symptoms that come with the inevitable march of time.
Ah, the symptoms—especially my favorite one: hot flashes. My body has boiled life down to two seasons: blistering, sizzling summer when I turn into a walking human sauna, and freezing arctic winter when, for reasons I’ll never understand, I feel like I’ve been plunged into an ice bath. It’s as though my body has an inside joke that I’m not in on. One moment, I’m steamed to perfection like a dumpling, and the next, I’m shivering like a penguin. Fun times.
But back to my magic pills. While I wait for these colorful candies to work their supposed miracles, I’ve added some other delightful rituals to my day. My morning starts with a chia-flaxseed lemon concoction. Sounds healthy, right? It is—if you enjoy drinking something that has the texture of a soggy sponge. The chia seeds float around like alien creatures, and the flaxseeds do. Well, let’s say they add a certain “grit.” After choking that down, my stomach decides to perform a one-woman orchestra within the hour. The growling gets so loud I’m convinced everyone can hear the battle between chia and digestion.
As the day ends, I calm things down with a soothing cup of anise tea and a few more magic pills to help me relax. Whether they help or not is anyone’s guess because when it comes to sleeping these days, it’s like trying to nap on a rollercoaster. One minute, I’m peeling off the blankets, fantasizing about relocating to Antarctica, and five minutes later, I’m huddled under layers, shaking like a leaf. It’s a never-ending loop: hot, cold, hot, cold—until finally, I reach the perfect temperature, only to discover that my brain has decided it’s time to stay awake and solve all of the world’s problems. Or maybe just the mystery of the missing sock in the washing machine.
By the time dawn breaks, I realize that sleep will not happen tonight. And then, as the sun creeps in, a little voice in my head asks the million-dollar question: when will these magic pills finally start working? Are they even magic, or have I been deceived by a perfectly curated Instagram ad promising me a miracle in exchange for monthly subscriptions?
Perhaps I’ll find out tomorrow. Or maybe not. At least I’ll still have my rainbow of pills—whether they work or not.
Nada Najjar
