This whole societal “taking up space” thing is fairly new on my radar (past several years) but I think it’s really interesting.

I grew 6 inches between 5th and 6th grade and was for several years not just the tallest girl, but the tallest person in my class. I wore only solid color clothes and although I never took to hunching or stooping (my mother was a stickler for good posture), I tried every which way to take up less space — even less than was dictated just by virtue of being female.

These days I really enjoy living out loud, dressing in a self-expressed way, speaking my truth, etc. But part of what I’m doing here on Medium is continuing to learn to take up space and allow myself to be seen; even to draw attention to myself. It’s not for the purposes of “hey, look at meeeee” but it is, in part, for the purposes of continuing to undo all of those years of trying to melt into the background.

Thanks for talking about real shit…. I truly enjoy it!