Be a cupcake, or be a loser. I myself can’t even begin to count the number of people I’ve been, over the past forty-six years of my life. I’ve been a bookworm, a hippie, a skinhead raver, a glammed-up ‘60s mod, a party girl, a liberated woman, a married woman, a mother, a worker, a drunk, a stoner, a queen bee, a solitary sort, a lover, and a prolific person of letters. Now, I’m just a therapist, a single mom, and a hardcore gym rat who enjoys scouring vintage magazines for postcard material, and who occasionally cries stale tears at night over the memory of a man who chose not to love her. My point is, there are some roles we choose, some that are foisted upon us, and some that we wander into, unwittingly, until we realize we either love it or want to get the hell out of it. Which leads me to my other point: change your story and be whoever you wanna be, if you feel the need or the desire. Because just the simple act of writing all this down has made me reconsider who I want to be — versus falling into old patterns, which means not actively choosing what I want, or who I know deep down I could be. Why cry stale tears for a man who never really wanted to know me, anyway? I’d rather be in love with myself, absent any better choices. To my own amazement, I am perfectly allowed to do so. ❤️‍🔥—Y.B.D.