My Story: Samantha

I really admire Mariah for creating this because, as her friend, I wanted nothing more than to support her, but every time I sat down to write something I couldn’t find words I was comfortable sharing (and the thought of being publicly vulnerable made me wanna armadillo as much as the next person). Reading what other people had to say put me at ease because I didn’t feel exposed or alone anymore— So I would say she’s off to a pretty great start:).

I have struggled a lot with those times in life when “nothings wrong, but everything is wrong.” I would have so much anxiety and sadness about being stressed and not “feeling great” and so much paranoia that everyone thought I had my shit together and one slip up and my entire facade would come crashing down. We go to a school where there is this stigma that if you aren’t high strung and high achieving, you must not care all that much, or as much as other people at least.

But at the same time, if you don’t go out, see people, are seen, then “all you do is work.” Turning my mindset on “not feeling great” from “F***CKKK how do I get my life together while simultaneously complaining that perfect amount so people think I care and know I’m working, but not too much cause shit = together” to just a neutral to acknowledge has allowed me to appreciate good days that much more and be an overall happier person. Realizing everyone’s backstages are way more similar than we think at a glance suddenly makes “everything that’s going wrong” seem way less wrong and just something that it’s okay to not feel great about.