I've always been told I'm an open book. Those who are intimidated by it, claim it's my weakness. But those who benefit from it, argue it's my strength. And in that case, I can understand how strengths work against us sometimes. I believe that it's for this reason, that people have chapters they don't read out loud. still, I don't. Why? It's not because I'm special. In fact it's exactly the opposite. I know I'm not alone in my feelings... I'm not alone in my experiences or in my stories. And not being alone in those is the only way to heal from them. so why should we ever just read in our head? I think it's brave to be vulnerable. I think it's courageous to come undone. I think it's fearless to be honest. And I'm not all of these things all the time. Just because my pages are published doesn't mean I'm healed or always happy to share. I'm just practicing. I'm practicing how to read my chapters out loud without the temptation to set the pages on fire.