Good morning, olivia55 (@olivia55)

Your therapist may have already told you this, but you have made one of life's profoundest leaps: naming who you are––and naming yourself truthfully, no quibbling, no shading of or ducking from the truth of who you are to appear more like the person others prefer you to be, rather than facing squarely the person you, in the privacy of your own thoughts, know you to be. Some of us go our whole lives and never make this leap.

It took me a long time, more than 60 years. These days, I use little signposts to keep me honest, silly little signposts; for example, when I get up in the morning and go for that first cup of coffee, my mug––a midnight blue mug with white stenciling––says, "The Bronx. It's Where My Story Begins". That simple message, seeing it every morning as I'm about to begin another new day, grounds me, helps to keep me from straying from the truth of who I am; not only from the truth of who I am, but also from the truth of what I am.

I'm sorry to be going on about this. That, too, is part of the truth of who I am: I never know when to shut up. 🙂 But your post moved me. I felt the need to say something. I'll close now, Olivia, wishing you mountains of success and years of happiness!

Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)