Five practical things you can do instead — Every May and after every celebrity suicide, without fail, I await the flood. Many of my otherwise well-intentioned and beautiful friends repost on social media some variant of “There’s always hope. If you’re struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx. Please repost to show you care. ” I…

Millionaires Keep Saying This so It Must Be True — I rode my bike to work last week. Multiple people thought it was nice. Good for the environment. They saw a cool way to get to the office. What those people didn’t see: 1. No driver’s license (childhood epilepsy, seizure at 24 y.o, and adult fear) 2. Bus route was…

On Burning Our Maps To Each Other — I joined Facebook at 27 years old in 2018. I have since learned way too much about the lives and opinions of acquaintances and old co-workers. What used to take several hours of conversation and weeks of hangouts now takes me the two seconds it takes to open my phone…

You once said you loved soulful singers so I sang my loneliness in raspy notes of cigarette smoke and whiskey stains that traveled down, down, down and made you weep and cough. I cannot hit the high notes without a ladder, and, alas, ladders are not permitted on stage. My…

On fear and friendship — The first time I saw the ocean, I almost drowned. Twenty-one and high off the fact that I was breathing in ocean breezes for the first time. My friend had warned me not to go past a certain point. Warned that it was too far away to swim back without…

AKA We Don’t Need Bad Advice. We Just Need You. — She’s sharing her heart over the phone. Near the end, she says “I remember reading one of your stories years ago, and it helped me.” I’m immediately nervous, and my anxiety level shoots up. What the heck was this story? I’m a much different person now. Do I even agree…

How Hustle Culture Replaced Community with Productivity — “They’re going to get us all killed.” “Protests aside, I agree with them. This is an economic disaster, and people need to work. Need to feed their families.” “If you’re working from home, you can’t speak on this. …

AKA You Need to Make Your Peace With Them. — My lungs wake me with a gasp in the morning at least twice a year, and even before the pandemic, that was an unpleasant sensation. I was never told that no matter how much sleep feels like death, I am not dying. Is that why I am so surprised to…

They Want To Feel Understood. — “You always try to make yourself look good,” a former friend told me a while ago. She had been more and more distant, and I wanted to know why. Was I ready to hear this? No. To accept it? Hell no. Was it true? Absolutely. It took five years and…