I once asked someone, in earnest, “How do people handle imperfection?” It baffled me how perfection might be out there, waiting to be harnessed and enjoyed, and yet people settled for ‘good enough.’ I guess I should tell you the context, as I am by no means a perfectionist when it comes to most other […] The post Perfectly Imperfect Love – In Search for ‘Just Right’ appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

If my inner state of being had been on display, it would look as though I was fist fighting the air, mumbling and grumbling about how unhappy I was. Disconnected and discontented, I despised doing work everyday that held little interest to me, living in a place I felt I had long outgrown. My spirit […] The post Dear Self: Give Up Your Search for the Dream Job appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

Thank you, for loving me. Thank you for opening up my mind’s eye to the possibility that I can be loved. That there is so much lovable light inside me worthy of the admiration that earnestly says and lives out louder: I. Love. You. And, yes, I should have known it before: That I am […] The post A Love Letter: Thank you, for loving me appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

My identity for all my childhood, adolescence and young adulthood was the quiet girl, yes (a depthless, limiting label I resented). But I was also the smart girl. And that label, I ate up. I devoured it. I wore that badge proudly, and had folders upon folders of other such badges and certificates saved by […] The post What Happened to the Ivy League Girl? appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

How to make an introvert fall in love with you? Let me tell you a little story: In the beginning… (How this introvert fell in love with an extrovert) The first conversation he remembers us having, he’d walked up to an empty seat on an otherwise crowded bus of rowdy college students and asked if he […] The post How to Make an Introvert Fall in Love with You appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

We regret to inform you… I got a rejection notice today, and it sucks. You’d think I’d be wholly desensitized to being turned down the amount of times it’s happened, but no – the pang of disappointment still hurts. Seeing that tower I built in my head of what could have been crumble to the […] The post “We Regret to Inform You:” 4 Keys to Handling Rejection appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

Something about the nature of this experience felt historical. Like it should be recorded and archived. I mentioned to him that I wish there was a way to remember these initial days getting to know each other. How we had spent hours on the phone speaking to each other without ever meeting face-to-face. How we […] The post Dating in the Time of Corona appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

I’ve never had a year like this before. A year filled with so much fruitfulness and adventure. It feels odd, considering most other years were forgettable, or so bad I wish I could forget. But 2019 was good to me. No… that way of thinking suggests I had no agency. I made 2019 good to […] The post My 2019 Highlights appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

Today I woke up with a realization: Twenty-seven is a BIG number. BIG as in serious – in a way that 26 wasn’t. Twenty-six had a sexy, easy-going flair to it. “Oh, I’m 26!” I might say flirtatiously. But, twenty-seven feels serious, like I’m sure 28, 29 and 30 will feel. There’s no denying it […] The post Life Updates appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more

Let’s get this one fact on the table. I’ve gained weight. About 20 pounds. I started college at around 125 pounds, gained the freshman 15, and normalized to 135-140 by the time I graduated. Today I’m 155. I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been. I talk about these numbers with relative ease. As a size medium […] The post I gained weight and I don’t know how to feel about it appeared first on Authentique Life ..read more