I came across your piece and that line about walking through a country without a map stopped me.
I write about something I’ve come to call “the long middle” — not the crisis, not the resolution, but the part in between where you’re still trying to orient yourself inside a life that’s already changed.
Different lens, but a similar feeling of realizing you’ve been navigating without shared instructions.
I just wanted to say — your framing really stayed with me.
Thank you for this. I hadn’t thought about the masculine mask but you’re dead on. I always felt more comfortable in Malaysia than in the USA because Malaysians didn’t seem to mind me being exactly who I am (AuDHD, quiet, introverted, geeky). Growing up in America I quickly learned to double mask to fit in.
I came across your piece and that line about walking through a country without a map stopped me.
I write about something I’ve come to call “the long middle” — not the crisis, not the resolution, but the part in between where you’re still trying to orient yourself inside a life that’s already changed.
Different lens, but a similar feeling of realizing you’ve been navigating without shared instructions.
I just wanted to say — your framing really stayed with me.
Thanks, Mary! Much appreciated! :)
Thank you for this. I hadn’t thought about the masculine mask but you’re dead on. I always felt more comfortable in Malaysia than in the USA because Malaysians didn’t seem to mind me being exactly who I am (AuDHD, quiet, introverted, geeky). Growing up in America I quickly learned to double mask to fit in.
We are foreigners, David, and therefore weird by default LOL