Have you ever told someone something real, something you thought was safe, and then watched them share it, twist it, or use it against you? It stings. It makes you want to crawl back into hiding. And it makes you wonder if it’s safer not to share at all. This question has been coming up…
This summer, I started painting—with the hand I hid for 25 years. Because sometimes the things we’ve hidden the longest have the most to teach us. Facing the Doubts Truth? I wasn’t sure what would happen. Maybe something beautiful, maybe something that looked like a preschool finger-painting. (Spoiler: some of it did.) And underneath it…
Lately, I’ve been noticing hiding everywhere, at a dinner with TIME, splashed across a full-page ad in The New York Times, and in a candid conversation on Mel Robbins’ podcast. You’ve been spotting it too, sending me articles, podcasts, and movie scenes (keep them coming). Hiding—and unhiding—are everywhere. Once you start noticing it, you can’t…
I remember sitting in meetings early in my career, working so hard to keep parts of myself hidden. I thought it would keep me safe. But by the end of the day, I was completely drained. Recently, after listening to my brilliant speaker friend Cait Donovan talk about burnout and the brain, I started wondering:…
That inner voice. You know the one, right before you do something meaningful, it whispers: “Don’t mess this up.” “Play it safe.” “Maybe don’t speak up this time.” I call it the unreliable narrator. Some call it the inner critic. Or the negative self- critic. Whatever name you give it, you know the voice. And…
This month, we celebrated my father’s 85th birthday. (Happy birthday, Dad!) At dinner, he and my stepmother said something that made me pause: “We have no secrets from each other.” And I thought—really? None? It got me thinking about how we all manage what we choose to reveal (and what we hold back). Not just…
