For When Your Clothes No Longer Fit

There are two piles of jeans on my bed, a stack of pants on the floor, a dresser drawer jutting out, and hangers left empty in the closet. There’s a part of me that is slightly frustrated, a feeling rising up that says, How are you still here? and Look how these don’t fit either.

As I write these words to you, I can put a name tag on each sentence. They sound like Shame and Condemnation. But in the moment, as I try on pair after pair of pants that no longer fit, it’s a little bit harder to remem...