I realized this when I turned 50. I had worked in one of Washington, D.C.'s largest law firms, enjoyed a political appointment in the US Justice Department, was married to a well-to-do attorney, took lavish vacations, and belonged to a country club. But I felt empty.
"If [music] had anything but piano and organ, like if it had electric guitar or drums, it was considered Satanic or bad," he says, highlighting the extremism of his parents' beliefs. "We weren't allowed to go to movie theaters, we weren't allowed to watch movies, we didn't have TV. All the girls in our house had to wear skirts ... even to bed, I had to wear skirts."
"As an adult, my ex was having some problems, and I had to check him into a psych ward. That night, I went to a party... I realized that I had turned into my mother, and it hit me that family trauma isn't funny."
"Byron is at school, without much of a support system, bouncing between their mum's, dad's and Mammar Joe's homes, with a desperate internal desire to escape."
I'm a real people pleaser-I often prioritize the needs of others over my own and carry a constant concern for their well-being. While that can be a beautiful human superpower, my fixation on pleasing everyone sometimes leads me away from my true self.