Thank you so much for your thoughtful response, Anita. I think, I feel like many people value me for my good qualities, what I bring to the table, but no one seems to want to see the darker more fragile side of me, and to me that’s the authentic part; the rest is just glitter, or at the very least, its as authentic. I don’t feel that I am acceptable just as I am, flaws and weaknesses and all.

I definitely never go on about my darker thoughts; it doesn’t take much for me shut down at all. And it takes a huge amount of courage for me to even make the tentative approach.