If the ocean was a person, the waves would be its heartbeat, and being on that same heartbeat with your favorite people is a feeling like no other.

Now here I am in this obscure space between guilt and shamelessness for not feeling more than a slight ache, a selfish ache, an ache not even for him, but for myself who feels like those three years of her life have gone into the void with him. Being the only remaining witness of that life we shared is somehow a burden. Perhaps grief is really just a selfish thing.

You can feel fulfilled with who and where you are and still be allowed to grieve the people you’ve lost along the way. There is no such thing as absolute happiness or absolute sadness.

Happiness is not on my list of priorities. I just deal with day-to-day things. If I’m happy, I’m happy – and if I’m not, I don’t know the difference. You know, these are yuppie words, happiness and unhappiness. It’s not happiness or unhappiness, it’s either blessed or unblessed. —Bob Dylan

I’ve had panic attacks at train stations, in public bathrooms, inside my house, on buses and trains, in the office, at the park, inside a restaurant. I randomly shed a tear in front of my students and colleagues because there was no containing my sadness anymore.

I don't know about other parents but I know that deep within my howl, there lies the hoarse bleating of a lamb. I am too aware of my own imperfections and I know that if I don’t communicate this to my child, he will grow up thinking I’m sort of a superhero who can do anything at will.

In a society that glorifies productivity, we often find ourselves with an overwhelming amount of tasks at hand. And because our brain is wired to remember unfinished tasks better than the ones we have already accomplished, we often find ourselves constantly being interrupted by these unfinished tasks throughout the day.

That you can love yourself and still be insecure was a painful realization as I was entirely fixated on the idea that these two are mutually exclusive. That once I acknowledged my self-worth, I will never be insecure again.