Originally published on SheRoseRevolution. It has been almost eight years since we first met, which means that it has been almost eight years since I lost myself. Eight years is a very long time to be looking in the mirror and not be able to recognise yourself. That’s 96 months of waking up with you inside of my head. And almost 2,920 days spent wondering when will be the day that I am finally free from you. When will be the day that I wake up, and I see myself without the da

Originally Published on SheRoseRevolution. For as long as I can remember, I have not had a smile quite like anyone else’s. I do not remember how I used to feel about my smile before my adult teeth grew in. But I have been reminded every day since then of how society would like me to feel about them now. I do not have perfect teeth. I do not have straight teeth; or teeth that create what we have all been taught is an “award-winning” smile. I am the person who fears public spea

Originally Published on Thought Catalog. Every day, I am bombarded by another person who has taken up a new hobby or realized a hidden talent. Every day, I am watching another friend get engaged and land their dream job. And every day, I am reminded of how astoundingly different my life currently is from so many others around me. While some people are thriving in the chaos that is our world right now, I am drowning in it. I used to be a morning person, but now I can barely ge

Originally published on Thought Catalog. I know it hurts you to think back to those days that you always wished would just be over. I know you have spent so many years of your life wishing to be anyone else, anywhere else. You wanted so badly to grow up and be an adult because the pain of adolescence was always too much for you to bear. You have always been reminded that you are just a little too much. Maybe they told you that you were too fat or too thin. Or that your hair w

Originally published on Thought Catalog. Eight years ago, you never would have imagined the pain you would be living inside of right now. You never could have known how much meeting just one person could change the trajectory of your entire life. You never could have known how badly they would hurt you and just how much of yourself you could lose to someone else’s abuse. It’s okay. The person you were eight years ago was not a bad person because they happened to fall in love