My mom used to remind me how I was such a quitter because I quit playing the piano in 3rd grade and the saxophone in the fourth grade. As an adult I tried to prove I wasn’t by staying in toxic jobs and relationships much longer than I should have.

Every time I get a headache, I’m sure it’s brain cancer. And let’s not talk about some weird looking freckles I have. I know my doctor is thinking “what a hypochondriac”

Oh yeah. I should write plays or a book for all the conversations I have and scenarios I dream up.

I come from a family like this and I feel your pain. I do obsess about the same things. My whole family cannot seem to tolerate any kind of joy or happiness. If we are talking about happy things, someone would either pick a fight about me ordering French fries or another cocktail at dinner, or talk about some…

This made me laugh cuz it’s me. I’m a part time extrovert. The rest of the time I’m an introvert with a propensity toward these thoughts. You sound like fun xo

You don’t have to do it all at once. Try it a few times. Your brain will change because it can, thanks to neuroplasticity. I only know this because I’m an old and it had taken me this long to do it 80%/20% of the time.

Whoa. You just helped me understand why I’m so unconcerned about house keeping. Talk about clarity! Thank you!

Are we related? Because that was totally my mom. Just starting to heal those wounds.

I often feel like I’m on the spectrum, but a therapist told me that if you think you are you’re probably not, because you’re self aware.

This is one of the best things about turning 50. Then I had a stroke at 56 and one of the positives that came out of it was that I really didn’t give a shit about what other people thought about me. It’s as if all that stuff that made me anxious was wiped way, kind of like clearing the browser on a computer.

I moved to CA (Bay Area) last year, after a lifetime of being an easterner (NY suburbs, DC, 15 years in FL). Every day, I pinch myself, because it feels like a dream. Everything is so different out here.

Come to Vallejo. I say this as a northeastern gal myself, who used to hate people. There’s a ferry to SF and we are 9 miles from wine country. It’s a very live and let live kind of place, with an incredible coffee roaster and 15 weed dispensaries within 3 miles. Wonderful, diverse, and arty. I’m starting to like…

At least Californians acknowledge that homelessness is an issue that needs to be addressed, unlike back east, where the common belief is that people who are homeless should have worked harder.

I was a third grade teacher and had to do just what you described. I had a stroke two months after Sandy Hook. Although I taught in FL, that was what finally did me in.

Hugs to you, my friend. Anniversaries like this do suck!

you are very wise and very kind. my heart is warmed. thank you!

it’s a shitty feeling, and life IS hard, no matter what more privileged people say. It will turn around, and i have sold sentimental stuff over the years. It is strangely and incredibly liberating. once you get on a roll, you start to realize how little you need. Know that you are not alone. i’ve been there, too. As…

As an adoptee who knows that feeling of being a shameful secret, i am sorry this happened to you. Being adopted made me resolutely pro-choice, because i did not want another child to feel that awful feeling. Hugs.

ugh...the memory comes back clearly, every bit of pain and shame of the ordeal of my junior prom. Since i went to an all girls’ catholic school in an affluent area, the prom was held at a yacht club and was really posh. I invited my crush, who i loved since sixth grade, and beat out a bunch of other girls who wanted…

oh, i thought he was interested in teenagers because he knew the demographics and what a huge market they would be. am i giving don draper too much credit? i’m stuck in season 3.