How I'm Doing

Vulnerability does not come naturally to me. At least, my understanding of it didn’t. I’ve come to believe that true vulnerability is being fully honest with yourself. I’ve never had a problem speaking truth out loud, so I thought I was vulnerable. But it wasn’t until I took the time to face myself that I realized how much scarier it is to have brutal honesty with yourself—and even more so when that honesty is kind. I had to practice many forms of self-love, shifting from tou

I have felt simply different from the very first moment I became aware I was alive. And the one recurring comment that has fueled this feeling—sometimes gently, sometimes explosively —is, “you’re an old soul.” The first time I remember hearing it, I was maybe seven or eight years old. And somehow, decades later, strangers still say it to me in grocery store lines or on random Tuesdays. It sent me on a 37-year National Treasure–style scavenger hunt for answers. 1. What does th

Being my own worst enemy has been— not even a theme— but a central character in my life. It always seemed like everyone else had figured something out that I somehow missed. That feeling of walking into a room right after everyone was talking about you, that quiet awkwardness you can feel in your inner ear? Yes. That is how every room felt (and to some extent still feels). And when someone feels that level of isolation, there’s nothing to do but self-evaluate. I’ve been told