I used drunk-texting as an unhealthy way to communicate with my partners. I'm now 10 months sober. Here's my personal story.
My fantasy was to escape from the corporate grind. After a taste of freedom and months of hare-brained schemes, I begged to be captured again.
We were young and barely knew each other. Would it last?
A brother's death. An honorable discharge. And a harrowing reentry to civilian life.
Comedian Samantha Ruddy writes about sharing a bed with her ex, how much stronger their relationship has become and trying to figure out what they are now.
It's 2020 — do you know where your content is?
After her husband's infidelity, Christine Kalafus re-architected her marriage. Now she needs to let her son in on the plans.
Wendy McClure recounts how an old audio tape of holiday music becomes a record of family history, unspoken rituals and grief.
I never thought I'd be the kind of person to get married. Then I got older and realized I didn't need to feel fireworks or intense passion: just being comfortable was enough.
In May of 2019, at the age of 52, I was accepted to Yale University. I'm a former Navy SEAL, and buddies of mine would ask things like; "how are things up there with the liberal snowflakes?" Let me assure you, I have not met one kid who fits that description.
A non-comprehensive list of the year's best personal essays — on everything from mental health to relationships, identity, creativity, family and all that makes us human.
Working the night shift on an intensive care unit, Suzanne Ohlmann brushes up against death, Jesus and her biological father.
Claire Stapleton didn't just buy into the lore of Google — she helped write it. What happened when the bard of Google became one of its most vocal critics?
The actor and writer has spoken openly about her struggles with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia. She recounts how a month on the road without mirrors impacted her perception of self.
Elle Dee shares her story of meeting con woman Anna Delvey on the New York party scene.
Sarah Miller describes what it felt like to lose her beloved wallet, an object she bought to distract herself from far worse problems.
In a world of climate change refugees, dictatorships, revolutions and wars, a father reflects on the setting for his son's coming of age.
After a few weeks on the antidepressant I noticed the birds were chirping a little louder, and my self-critical inner voice had decreased to a whisper.
The Jaguar E-Type was an incredible car when it debuted in 1961. It had disc brakes, independent suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and monocoque construction that made it lightweight and resulted in great performance, especially for a car as inexpensive as it was. It was called the most beautiful car ever made by Enzo Ferrari, and it routinely tops automotive journalist's lists of best-looking cars. I disagree.
"Dude," I said, catching myself, "we've somehow gotten really old and grumpy."
We were the same age. We grew up together. We thought we would grow old together, and have kids who could be cousins just like us.
On the morning of November 16, 2019, we, the exiled Iranians, woke up and like billions of other internet addicts in the world immediately checked our phones, only to realize that Iran had been cut off from the global internet.
My toughness got me everything in life I cared about, until I fell in love and had to rethink everything.
I didn't expect to have a miscarriage, so I had told family and friends we were expecting. Having to tell everyone the pregnancy was gone changed my perspective on loss.
As a shy teen, my cure for loneliness was a weird and wonderful world where we created fake celebrity profiles — and formed surprisingly intimate connections.
Sure, she was beautiful, and an intimidatingly successful pop star, but... did she also kind of look like me?
An anonymous teenager writes about his brief infatuation with the alt-right, which made him critical of how big tech platforms influence the way we think.
I dropped out of film school to edit video for the conspiracy theorist because I believed in his worldview. Then I saw what it did to people.
On the pain and joy of fulfilling a deathbed promise.
On competitive running, exactness and finding permission to be myself.
When I became a mom at 19, my depression spiraled out of control until I reached a delirious state. I was very much alive, but certain I'd been dead for years.
Mathina Calliope goes off her antidepressant and into the woods.
Newly separated and living in her parents' building, a writer gives stand-up comedy a try. What happened next was not in the script.
I decided to give up on chasing natural sunlight and make my own instead.
I'm an information security consultant. I'm pissed off at the state of information security. I'm pissed off that our tooling is falling behind. I'm pissed off that my clients don't seem to take it seriously, and I'm pissed off that the vendors don't seem to want to help.
How 15 perfect strangers helped me find my way home.
I thought I had nothing to learn from people who obsessed over expensive children's toys. I couldn't have been more wrong.
There's no single answer to the question of why I lose my mind at the beginning of my sophomore year of college. There are just things that happen over the years, and those things accumulate over time, and those accumulations finally break m
Chinese food always connected me to my cultural identity. It also continually reminded me of all the ways I didn't measure up.
It's the one activity where money becomes more magical and less weighty.
My first impression, upon looking at the lunch with adult eyes, was, "I can't believe I used to eat this every day."
There are some truly terrible products out there. For everything else, the question of "does it work?" is much more personal.
"Cons & Kernels" aims to employ everyone, including former inmates.
For a bullied kid with weight issues, haute cuisine provided an escape.
I grew up in Wisconsin, and have lived in Iowa, Minnesota, and New York. Except for a two-year stint in the Bay Area. So I was surprised when my last two Vermont winters put me on my ass.
And how my teenage neglect killed it anyway.
Nothing was wrong, but it wasn't worth saving, either.
"If I could master this thing so outside the realm of my own tastes, maybe I could stay inside a life that didn't quite fit."
One wrong move robbed me of my last chance to see a cherished friend.
Who knew that dressing as a Ninja Turtle for seven hours could be such a miserable slog?
Former speechwriter Adam Frankel on what it was like to write for a uniquely writerly president.
The beauty and calm of the Aland Islands are deceptive. Isolation encourages contemplation — but can it, as one grieving mother wonders, offer respite as well?
"My time in 12-step recovery offered the radical (to me) idea that profundity wasn't predicated solely on dysfunction."
Mean girls and cliques were a startling change from working with her primatologist parents. Fortunately, she'd learned a bit about navigating vicious social structures.
Sometimes when I'm marking timber, I'll have a flashback and just stand there, staring off into space for God knows how long.
My mom wanted me to wear a blonde wig on my first day of high school so I would look "more American." I can understand why.
Boring dinner party? Endless-seeming movie? Argument with the sweetheart? Cigarettes solved these problems.
After a ten-year relationship ends painfully, Mona Kirschner finds herself searching for emotional and physical healing at a weight loss center in Brazil.
It's tough to manage a massive RPG once you're nearly thirty.
This word, "bastard," enthralls me. I've heard my dad use it, and read it in a Stephen King novel or two. I thought it referred to a bad person. But no, that's me, I think on the bus ride home. That's a word for what I am: a bastard.
