“They couldn’t find Luke’s heartbeat for several minutes. I started to go in and out of consciousness. Before they could even put the partition up, they had begun a crash vertical C-section.”
‘My whole body hurt every day. I could barely bend down.’: Mom shares journey with Rheumatoid Arthritis, POTS, Lupus
‘What will you tell your son?’ While posed as a threat, it holds a sentiment this chapter taught me. My truth.’: Divorcee goes on emotional self-love journey
“As much as I tried not to let marriage and motherhood consume me, they did. With each immeasurable compromise, parts of me were lost. It happened slowly, over time, and I didn’t catch this until it was too late. Until I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize who I was.”
‘I didn’t think I could get any better than him, and he made sure I believed that.’: Aboriginal woman shares inspiring story escaping poverty, domestic violence
“I completely fell in love with the gym and how it made me feel like I had control and power over something for the first time in my life. I was addicted to getting better physically and mentally.”
‘I’ve always felt like everyone else was given an instruction manual to life, but not me.’: Autistic student shares diagnosis, unmasking journey
“‘Why don’t you do something normal for once?’ They would pretend to be interested in what I was doing but then talk to me like a baby and leave to go laugh with their friends. All of this was really confusing at the time, and I’m only just starting to realize how awful some of these people actually were.”
‘All I could do when I was in his office was cry and beg for a hip replacement.’: Multiple Sclerosis warrior shares journey through misdiagnoses
“Once all my tests came back ‘normal,’ he asked, ‘Does bipolar run in your family?’ I was so defeated and felt I needed to swear off doctors altogether. Sadly, swearing off doctors doesn’t make symptoms go away.”
This Is My Story Of Having Alopecia And Alopecia Not Having Me
“I prayed for strength and posted the first picture. My phone began to go crazy with all of the likes, hearts, messages, congratulations, praises, and thank you’s from both women and men.”
‘Despite appearing to be a stage-loving, attention-hogging, enthusiastic extrovert, the truth is quite the opposite.’: Woman shares realizations about being a ‘closet introvert’
“I wouldn’t blink an eye if told I had to get on stage in front of hundreds of people and perform. I’d do it in a heartbeat, and do it enthusiastically. But put me in a room with the same people and ask me to mingle, and I’d want to crawl into a hole and hide.”
‘I was so depressed I spent 5 days in the psych ward. My husband promised he’d be there for me, but that wasn’t the case when I came home.’: Divorcee candidly shares healing, self-love journey
“About 6 months into my pregnancy, I noticed a shift in my relationship with my husband. He came to me and told me he was unhappy. It rocked my world and for the first time in a long time, I dipped into a depression.”
‘I was the quiet kid eager to get out of that small town to a more diverse place where I wouldn’t be so different.’: Legally blind trans man with albinism pursues photography career
“I was the ‘tomboy’ who always wanted to wear pants and pull my long hair back so I could hide it. I didn’t like the way my clothes fit my body. I grew up desperately trying to fit in and meet people’s standards.”
‘Do I belong here? Am I wanted?’ Like many adoptees, I fell prey to identity issues.’: Writer shares how being a transracial adoptee influences her life and art
“Writing finally began the journey of coming to terms with my identity issues and not letting it consume me.”