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To all my earnest weirdos
When did you first know you were supposed to change?
This article is cross-posted from my weekly newsletter, The Sunday Soother, a newsletter about clarity, intention, and useful tips for creating more meaning in your life that goes out every Sunday morning. Subscribe here. I am also a coach who works with sensitive people so they can stop second-guessing, make decisions confidently and live the life they’ve always dreamed of. You can learn more about working with me here.
When did you first realize that you were expected to change?
For me, it was 1990, and I had just turned 10 years old.
Up until that point, I had been a relatively unaffected, happy child. Introverted and a bit shy, sure. Probably spending most afternoons reading on the floor tearing through the Babysitters Club series? Yup. Least likely to raise her hand in class or stand up at the chalkboard to show off a math problem? Uh huh. That was me. Soft and shy, a little prone to nervousness, but funny, sharp, goofy, observant, and pretty much fine, just how I was.
At least I thought so. A year earlier, my parents had moved me and my two siblings out of Washington, D.C., into the suburbs of Northern Virginia, and I had started third grade at a new elementary school. The very first day there…
