this is fine
After I Divorced My Wife, 'The Real Housewives' Saved Me
I am a small-town reporter in Montana who identifies as a soft butch. I didn't expect Bethenny Frankel to get me through the hardest time of my life.
After I Got Hit By a Car, I Never Expected Crosswords Would Save Me
When I felt isolated or resentful, puzzles helped me remember how to connect with the world outside my head.
Cold Showers Help Me Manage Dysphoria When Nothing Else Works
When I had an eating disorder linked to dysphoria, I thought cold showers would help me lose weight. Instead, I find that they bring me back to myself.
My House Is Scary and Disgusting, Just the Way I Like It
Filling my home with blood, bones, and mutant specimens in jars helped me make sense of being called a monster all my life.
Long Walks Were the Antidote to My Fear of Failure
The meditation of walking in a city is not as internal as that of hiking. You do not lose yourself in the silence; rather, you melt into the physical beat of observation.
Photo Retouching Is the Digital Skincare That Equalizes Us All
Everyone’s face looks the same at 500 percent magnification: curvy and abstract, like a big fun skate park.
Getting 'California Sober' Showed Me a Kinder, Gentler Way to Do Drugs
When I quit every substance except weed and psychedelics, I could still party and expand my mind, but without the selfishness and addiction.
A Huge Pikachu Phone Case Was My Unexpected Solution to Professional Dread
Pikachu turned a depressing professional and social crutch into a joy—a small (and, okay, mostly useless) act of defiance.
'Animal Crossing' Reminds Me to Look After Myself—Not Just My Avatar
Some of my goals are made simpler when I don’t think of myself as a human body, but as a player in a game.
Screaming to Pop Music on Drives Saves Me From the Hell That Is My Mind
All I need is Dua Lipa, my car, and maybe a vape, and I can pull myself out of a spiral over a girl not texting me back.
Meghan Markle's Relationship With Her Dad Makes Me Feel Better About My Own
My father wasn’t at my wedding, either.
Dyeing My Hair Rainbow Colors Will Never Make Me 'Less Asian'
Rather than my race, my hair became what people recognized and distinguished me by. But as my white friends began to accept me, I realized that my acceptance of myself was suffering.