Identity

“My dad asked when I'm getting married again and I laughed it off but I thought about it the whole drive home.”

“I said I didn't want kids for so long that I've stopped questioning whether I actually believe it.”

“I used to know what I wanted my life to look like and somewhere in my thirties that image just got blurry.”

“I've been holding this secret for so long that I've started to forget what it would feel like to say it out loud.”

“I'm watching my body change in ways I wasn't prepared for and I don't know who to tell or what I'd even want them to say.”

“I keep looking at my old photos not because I miss that time but because I can't figure out when exactly things shifted.”

“I'm starting to realize I built my whole identity around achievement and now that I'm between things I don't know who I am.”

“I think I've been performing being okay for so long that I don't always know the difference anymore.”

“I keep thinking about that one comment my English teacher made when I was sixteen and how much it still shapes what I write.”

“I want to ask for help but I've been competent for so long that I don't know how to frame it without it sounding like failure.”

“I went to my college reunion and came home feeling not nostalgic but confused about the choices that led from there to here.”

“I've been thinking about ending the friendship for a while but I can't tell if she's bad for me or I'm just outgrowing her.”

“I've started saying I'm an introvert because it's easier than explaining that I'm just afraid of not being liked.”

“I don't recognize the person in videos from a few years ago and I'm not sure if that's growth or loss.”

“I haven't told anyone how bad it got last winter because I don't want it to be the thing they think of when they look at me.”

“I graduated and everyone acted like something was beginning and all I felt was the absence of structure I used to complain about.”