Depression isn’t something you can control, and it certainly isn’t something caused by being a certain weight. “You know, you should really just lose weight,” the psychiatrist says to Caley. I’m sitting in the counseling office with my sister, Caley, who is currently experiencing a difficult episode of depression. Her sense of self-worth is low, to […]
I understood that I was, emotionally speaking, standing naked in front of the Internet, and that plenty of people wished I’d cover up. In Boston, the last of the leaves are turning brown and brittle, dappling the sidewalks of Jamaica Plain. My daughter, almost 2, crunches and kicks them with her sneakers on our way […]
People can be ten thousand things, and really, looking beautiful is only one of them. I recently participated in a photo shoot, and the photographer posted one of the images on Facebook. Most of my Facebook friends posted underneath, You look [insert fabulous adjective here]! However, one person commented: This is the true essence of you. […]
What I do know—some days the only thing I know—is that I let her down. I probably couldn’t have saved her life, but I could have saved our friendship. I opened my last wedding present three years ago, the day after my best friend died. It had been almost five months since my wedding, which […]
A wise friend once told me “The story of your weight is boring to everyone but you.” This morning my almost 6-year-old son watched as I tried to manipulate my digital scale to do what I want. “Can I get on?” he asked. “Yes, but just a minute,” I said grumpily, as I tilted a little […]
It was only through that gift of pain and blame that I arrived on the other side to see myself as I really am: Enough. “But you’re so much prettier,” said my girlfriend as we stared at the photo on my smartphone screen. “I mean, she’s not a bad looking woman. But you’re more striking. […]
You do not want your daughter to fear her natural self or any other self she chooses. You do not want your sons to closet and shame women. She wants to know if it hurts. Your daughter, on her way to 3, extends a finger, hesitant. “Is it a boo boo?” You are cuddled together on […]
Fluffy self-help memes and open talk about anxiety may be irritating to some people, but the truth is, I don’t give a shit. Shame leads to silence, and silence can kill. When I was 5 years old, I was terrified of admitting that I couldn’t finish the gelatinous beef stew we summer program kids had […]
