How to Live Happily in an ‘Orange-Infused’ World

3 steps to see past the bullshit and cope with reality.

Photo by Joseph Kellner on Unsplash

Orange-infused water sounds fancy, right? It isn’t.

When I was a receptionist at a spa, we offered clients orange-infused water upon arrival. At first, I was enchanted with the idea. How refreshing! It seemed like a luxury to me. Orange slices floated in an ice-cold pitcher of water — the perfect start to the perfect spa day.

Cue my first day at work. I had the privilege of learning how to make the orange-infused water. Step one: Fill the pitcher with ice made from tap water the night before. Step two: Fill the pitcher with tap water. Step three: Slice ONE orange and toss it in the top. Voila! ‘Orange-infused’ water.

I felt like a kid who discovered Santa wasn’t real. Suddenly, the magic of it was ruined. It was a single orange in tap water with tap water ice. Depending on who closed the night before (and who made it in the morning), the pitcher was sometimes still dirty from the previous day and the oranges unwashed. Now, not only was it not at all the magical elixir I perceived it to be, but it was also a health hazard.

What. The. Hell. The spirit of orange-infused water was a lie.

An Orange-Infused Life

The water is technically orange-infused. The problem is that the verbiage creates an illusion. It creates an illusion of wealth and luxury when it is such a simple (and, again, sometimes disgusting) thing. After that, I started to notice other things that were ‘orange-infused’.

‘Orange-Infused’ (adj.): Presents as something magical but isn’t what it’s hyped up to be.

I started viewing the world through orange-tinted glasses, so to speak. When I hear about something fancy or wonderful or elegant, my first thought is…is it really? Suddenly, everything is ‘orange-infused’. When I tell people this, they think it’s funny. But I can assure you it is not a joke.

I’m going to pass you these orange-tinted glasses. Go on. Take a look around. What do you see? Once you realize that nearly everything in life is shrouded in speech and text meant to persuade and…