Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

by Alyson Stoner

At seven years old, it didn’t register that I was being groomed to be sold. I was no longer a child; I was a commodity.

To be encouraged to show up authentically, only to be deemed unfit to be seen, confirmed my true self was not enough. Not in this town.

Unintentionally, Mike’s Super Short Show squeezed out the final drops of childhood wonder I had left. Acting wasn’t an art, it was a business. Time wasn’t free, it was money. And the fire hose of positive reinforcement came from adults praising me for behaving like one of them.

My self-esteem was built around my ability to operate like a grown-up, or, more accurately, a fail-proof robot.

The catch was, we didn’t know what doors we had opened until we were already inside.