saving myself through the minds of others

I will turn 24 very soon. I cannot believe I could survive to this day especially when I think about how I wanted to disappear from this world during my late teens and a few years after that. I have always thought that I was living a lonely, reclusive life, but looking back, I realize that I was not completely alone. There were some encounters with people. They might not have had a direct impact on me, but it is certain that those encounters somehow became the source of energy for me to get through those hard years. Maybe I look normal now but I think I still have some mental difficulties inside. But what is different now is the fact that I can believe, if a bit hesitantly, that I will surely manage the situation. It might sound a cliché, but I am very grateful to all the people I met and supported me in some way. Especially, to my friends. (I even think it is miraculous that I still have some friends around me.) I have never been so thankful before. Lots of love, S

I feel uncomfortable in my own skin. I have always been. I will always be. I just know it. Still, I would hesitate to shed the skin. I would refuse to exchange my cursed skin with the one which belongs to someone else.