Big Summer

by Jennifer Weiner

“I like to have a martini / Two at the very most / Three and I’m under the table / Four and I’m under the host.”

This is a door. You can close it and stay here, outside, by yourself, or you can walk through it and join them.

I was going to eat to nourish myself, I was going to exercise to feel strong and healthy, I was going to let go of the idea of ever being thin, once and for all, and live my life in the body that I had.

Hurt people hurt people.”

In space, nobody could hear you scream; on the Internet, nobody could tell if you were lying.

Everyone tries to put the best versions of themselves across. To fake it. And when they’re not doing that, they’re sitting behind their screens, passing judgment and feeling superior to whoever they think’s being sexist or racist that day.”

I’m not brave all the time. No one is. We’ve all been disappointed; we’ve all had our hearts broken, and we’re all just doing our best. Make sure you have people who love you, the real you, not the Instagram you. If you can’t be brave, pretend to be brave, and if you can’t do that yet, know that you aren’t alone. Everyone you see is struggling. Nobody has it all figured out.