“My dad helped me choose my clothes until I was six years old but then I wanted to do it myself. He’s still my main fashion inspiration. He actually brought me this scarf from India. But he mainly likes to wear man shirts with words on them. At first I didn’t have a very good … | Continue reading
“It was my decision to leave. There were too many problems. She hadn’t kissed me in years. We’d argue over every little thing. Our son was grown and I just didn’t see a reason to stay. So I came home from work one day, packed up my things, and left. I’ve been staying with my sist … | Continue reading
“A couple weeks ago we were coming home from visiting my brother in Long Island and we stopped at a burger place off the highway. He had a Junior Whopper. I had a Whopper. We split the fries. And while we were eating, he said: ‘You know what Daddy? You’re a really great Dadd … | Continue reading
“Obama had been president for six days. The old timers in the twelve-step program tell you to associate the memory with something, so that’s how I remember it. The weather was just like this, even though it was November. It was sixtyish degrees. I was sitting on a stoop, havi … | Continue reading
“I was eleven when my mom divorced my stepdad. She had four kids at the time. I remember we were in the bedroom, and she said to me: ‘You’re the oldest so I’m going to need your help.’ And ever since then I’ve been ‘Mom Number Two.’ I picked my little brothers up from school. … | Continue reading
“I was diagnosed with leukemia during my early teens. It was a full year being out of school. And when I came back it felt like everyone had moved on without me. I had to repeat ninth grade. My social circles had changed and I was desperate to make new friends. I started try … | Continue reading
“I’m from a small country in Africa called Benin. I won the visa lottery to come here. I didn’t even know I was eligible. My brother entered my name and didn’t even tell me. I was studying to be a psychiatrist at the time. I assumed that I’d be able to continue with medical … | Continue reading
“I’ve known I wanted to be an actor ever since we performed Horton Hears A Who in 5th grade drama camp. I studied theater in college. But right now I’m in between roles. It’s been a minute. My acting teacher told us to just focus on the callbacks. But getting callbacks is no … | Continue reading
“He’s had problems with speech since he was two years old. Even as a baby he would get frustrated when he couldn’t express himself. He’d scream. He’d clench his fists. He still occasionally has trouble knowing what he wants. Sometimes I can calm him down with words. Other t … | Continue reading
“I tell my students things that only the Master of The Universe could know. I tell them that if they choose a certain path, they can be sure of success. At times I’ve convinced them that certain assignments will make or break their future. For a middle school to work, you have … | Continue reading
“There was never any joy in it. I practiced every day since I was four years old. I was just afraid of what would happen if I stopped. My father was a ‘rageaholic.’ Even our piano playing came from a place of hate. He wanted to humiliate his colleagues and prove that his chi … | Continue reading
“Fifth grade graduation is in two weeks. I’m going to miss my teachers, lunch, recess, and my counselor Meghan. She’s a kind-hearted person that doesn’t give up on you. The first time I met Meghan was in third grade when I got really mad at one of my teachers who was being mea … | Continue reading
“I was eating, sleeping, and shitting libraries. My life was becoming a little one note. All my friends were librarians. My social life consisted of professional development conferences. I needed another source of inspiration. So I started writing comic book reviews online. … | Continue reading
“When you’re a kid, Jesus sounds like a hippie or Bernie Sanders or something so it all sounds pretty nice. But then the rules get confusing. You go to Catholic school and some guy in a dress named Brother Roy starts beating you cause you got in a fight. It’s sorta like Gitmo in … | Continue reading
“When I first moved here I was living with my uncle in Brooklyn. He lives in a Jewish neighborhood. I accidentally set off his alarm one night when I came home. I couldn’t defuse it. The alarm kept screaming: ‘Burglary! Burglary! Burglary!’ I was the only black person in t … | Continue reading
“I’d been smoking pot since ninth grade and it made me think differently. So I figured that psychedelics would be the next step. I’d just moved to California. I was hearing stories of people tripping in nature. At the minimum they were being inspired and at the maximum they w … | Continue reading
“I was not a tough kid growing up. I was timid. I was very sensitive to pain in other kids. I never wanted to do anything that made people feel worse than they already did. And God forbid I ever hurt somebody. That would just destroy me. I’m having to learn to dial that bac … | Continue reading
“I felt humiliated and suicidal in college. It seemed like my personal failings were on display for everyone to see. I’m not all that attractive. I have a speech impediment. I’m not good socially. I saw other guys having romantic success and I felt a lot of envy. I conclude … | Continue reading
“I turned fifty a couple weeks ago. I’ve lived in the same neighborhood for most of my life, which makes it more challenging because everything around me has changed so dramatically. My best friend and I got our first apartment here when we were twenty years old. We used to pl … | Continue reading
“I married when I was sixteen. It was an arranged marriage. I’d never seen him before. I just came home from school one day and my dad told me that someone is coming to see you. He said: ‘You’re going to get married.’ The man was twenty-nine. I was so upset. Nobody ever discussed … | Continue reading
“We had a Native American museum today in third grade and the whole school came. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since second grade when I learned that third graders get to make dioramas. The museum was open from 10:15 to 10:45 or something like that. There was a cooking … | Continue reading
“I worked at a make-up counter after graduating with a chemistry degree. My African mother was so mad. But I love make-up. It’s like therapy. You make people feel good. You can change how they think, how they walk, how they talk. It’s transformative. Even when I got a job … | Continue reading
“I’m just beginning art school. I’m trying to find my own voice and style. I’m doing it in a Frankenstein sort of way. I’m borrowing ideas and techniques from other artists, and then I try to change them a little. It’s hard to create something new because it feels like everyt … | Continue reading
“I have pretty bad social anxiety. But I decided that I was going to be more outgoing when I went to college. So I joined the Facebook group for incoming freshmen, and I sent a generic ‘hey’ to everyone. Almost everyone gave me a generic ‘hey’ back, but he kept responding. Th … | Continue reading
“After graduating I worked as an industrial engineer. I spent five years designing presses for all kinds of factories. But it got too predictable. I was spending eight hours in front of a computer every day. It wasn’t enough for me. My mind was always somewhere else. Engine … | Continue reading
“I’m from a small town in the mountains of northern Georgia. We’re famous for apples. I moved here a week ago to try to be an actor. Right now I’m applying for waiter positions. I’ve got a little crypto currency and $5,000 saved from working at the carwash, so I figure I can … | Continue reading
“When I went to college, I thought about joining one of those Asian student organizations. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go ‘all in’ on being Asian. I had to ask myself how integral it was to my identity. I’ve never been very traditional. I grew up in a white town on Long … | Continue reading
“When I’m home, nobody will talk to me. It’s like I am dead. I don’t like quiet because then I have nothing. So I ride the train into the city. Compared to home, the city is like heaven. There are a million people you can ask for help. There are people to help you up the st … | Continue reading
“We’ve been married for almost twenty years. We have two children. But he suffers from depression and self-medicates with alcohol. He’ll quit drinking for stretches at a time, but he keeps falling back into it. So I have to support our family on a single income. And I’m just … | Continue reading
“Five years ago I had a bout with breast cancer. I didn’t catch it very early. I had to get chemo, radiation, and a mastectomy. I’d never felt so tired in my entire life, but it didn’t just throw me off physically. It made me really, really sad. I lost all my enthusiasm. I … | Continue reading
“I came to New York when I was twenty years old. At night I’d sleep at the YMCA, and during the day I’d go around to all the fashion houses and show them my portfolio. I was so shy that I could barely muster up the courage. I’d stand outside for thirty minutes before I even wa … | Continue reading
“I’m producing a podcast right now and I keep coming home pissed off. I dread getting emails from my collaborators. I get angry every time they disagree with my approach. It’s just that I want to feel proud of what I create. I want everything that I make to be a reflection of … | Continue reading
“My daughter is always asking me to play with her Barbie dolls. I try to tell her that I’m just going to watch but she starts begging me. So I try to do the man stuff. You know… fix the roof, move the furniture, maybe wash the Barbie car.” | Continue reading
“Annie had a tantrum because our magazine had a Fun Zone with puzzles and I did all the puzzles. So she started stomping around but Mommy got sick of it so Annie went to time out in our room and turned out all the lights. I tried to go inside but she kicked her boots at me. I … | Continue reading
“Having twins made me a more relaxed parent. When you watch two kids grow up at the same time, it makes you less concerned about benchmarks. Each of them had different talents and struggles. He could do all the physical stuff first. We had to put a net on the crib because he … | Continue reading
“I want to make sure I don’t miss a second of connectedness to the brands I’m representing. In the digital world, there’s always this feeling that if you don’t respond back—it’s a lost opportunity. If someone is talking to you, you have to answer or they might think you don’t c … | Continue reading
“I was raised with that Jewish intellectual worship of knowledge. But all my professors in college were small-minded nasty little bitches getting off on their own power, wanting me to parrot them while telling me they didn’t. So I decided I was a nihilist and that I was going t … | Continue reading
“I’m doing a review of last year. I’m looking at all the goals I set and whether I managed to achieve them. A big one for me was that I finally managed to get my driver’s license. It’s a little embarrassing because I’m well past that age, but I’ve always been terrified of driv … | Continue reading
“I was at a rave when I was sixteen, and my mates said ‘Try this.’ And it made me the opposite of who I normally am. I’d always been really shy, but suddenly I was dancing in the crowd and talking to everyone around me. Everyone else had issues too so it felt like I belonged. … | Continue reading
“We met two years ago at the office. At the time he’d just gotten out of a really bad breakup. It started with just lunch and coffee. Then we started meeting after work. We hooked up a little– somewhere between second and third base. I told him that I liked him so if it wasn … | Continue reading
“He’s always wanted kids. So I thought: ‘We’ll roll the dice and see what happens.’ I honestly didn’t think I’d get pregnant. They say it’s harder when you’re older, but here we are. I’m not confident that I’m going to be a good mom. I think of maternal women as women who’ve … | Continue reading
“My father had an ulcer that became infected. It was relatively simple to cure but he refused to believe the doctors. Instead he diagnosed himself with some sort of virus. He stopped taking his medicine. He created his own ointments instead. He’s very intelligent so his reas … | Continue reading
“I’m studying abroad right now. I have a bit of a ‘boyfriend thing’ going on back home. He’s a nice guy. We met at a party and twenty minutes later he held my hair while I vomited. Even though I wasn’t very attracted to him, he intrigued me. I’d never met a boy who didn’t ju … | Continue reading
“I’m not looking to set the world on fire, but I need something to challenge me. It feels like I’m reaching a critical juncture and I need to make some sort of decision. Up until now I’ve just been floating along. I’ve been at the same job for a long time. I do the same thing … | Continue reading
“I moved here from Kenya with my husband. He became very abusive when we arrived. He made sure I didn’t have any friends. If anyone came to visit me, he’d immediately say: ‘I don’t like them.’ I was scared all the time. When my mother came to visit from Africa, she could tel … | Continue reading
“This is the first time I’ve travelled alone. My friend told me that you learn a lot about yourself when you travel alone. But so far, I find it the other way around. I feel like I learn more about myself when I have to relate to other people. Today I walked around Sydney. I … | Continue reading
“He was clean when I met him. He’d drink and use drugs a bit, but only when he partied. But he’s not strong like me. He tried heroin and he liked the feeling. And he couldn’t stop. It’s not that he’s a bad person. He has a soft heart. He smiles a lot. But he has a demon t … | Continue reading
“Both of us are very passionate about the environment. We actually met at the screening of a documentary about ocean pollution. Maybe we’ll get politically involved one day, but right now we’re just trying to live sustainable, happy lives without harming anything. We try to foc … | Continue reading