Are you smiling because you’re an asshole?” I said, just to make sure that wasn’t why.

Honestly and authentically being around others is maybe the hardest thing in the world.

My request is to learn from my ghosts: to do something I’m nowhere near 99.999 percent sure will work because sometimes risking the fall is worth it.

I can hurt too; I can miss people in my own way; I can care about things deeply; I am not a machine or a superhero or a miracle and that is exactly how it should be.

It takes a unique combination of angst, caffeine, and months of being told I’m a criminal or a sinner or both, but I am fully capable of deciding I want to smack the shit out of a child who is barely four feet tall.