I’ve experienced anxiety since I was small. My first memories are riddled with worry. I’ve had a perpetual stomach ache my entire life. This pressing, heavy rock has made a lovely, loud home in my belly, pushing itself into my sides in moments of uncertainty. I’m always just a tad shaky and on the verge of tears. For as long as my memories go back, I’ve endured varying degrees of debilitating anxiety.
Read MoreI’m taking a break from waxing poetic in my usual brooding fashion to have a technicolor waltz down memory lane and break down some of the weirdest, wackiest spots I’ve happened upon while traveling across the U.S.
Read MoreI grew up on the pining stories of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. I didn't believe in the suave, amorous nature of Mr. Darcy or the mysterious, obsessive romance of Heathcliff, in the same way I didn’t think the Boogeyman or unicorns existed. I know better now.
Read MoreI was the queen of peer pressure and it makes me sick to think about to this day. I had to mask the chaos bubbling up in my belly, so I made sure everyone around me played along and got just as hammered as I was, so none of us stuck out. If we all lost our minds and couldn’t remember it the next day, did it even happen?
…I want to question and explore why being average, or even less than, at certain hobbies or skill sets leaves us feeling guilty, ashamed, or inadequate instead of proud for being vulnerable, excited for trying new things, or loving to ourselves for giving it a shot.
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