So often people choose belonging over authenticity. Most of the time the fear of being judged dictates our behavior rather then choosing to be exactly who we are. If we abandon ourselves in order to belong to someone else then we don’t belong to anyone. We no longer even belong to ourselves and our relationships are based on pretending to be whoever the other person wants us to be. There is no intimacy possible and no opportunity for love if we alter things about ourselves in order to be accepted. Love is unconditional or else it’s not love, it’s something else. Be proud of who you are. You have no reason to own others judgement. Shame is poison I experienced anti semitism since first grade- l was the only Jewish kid in my class and the kids said mean things. In middle school a boy drew a swastika on my locker and I had to live with it all year. In college two boys broke into my dorm room to put red paint on on the mirror that said “die Jew with a swastika”and hung my doll from ...