Why I Devoted an Entire Day to Code Shifting
If you don't understand shifting, you can't really understand who I am and who I thought I had to be. All she wanted to be was someone else. I used to go bed at night hating myself, thinking I was as fake as everyone said I was. I spent a lot of time rehearsing how to be myself, and I never got it down packed. The older I grew, the more it showed. It's worth noting that I grew up in a diverse-yet-segregated town on Long Island. The kind of town that tells you who you are before you get the chance to figure it out on your own. The Heart of the South Shore has its own accent, food, and world. All I wanted was to fit in. Even though 80% of my body was covered in eczema, my depression was often debilitating, and I didn't have the best hygiene. All I wanted was to fit in. By the time I was actually admitted into a children's psychiatric ward at 17, I was excited to be treated. I spoke openly about my challenge to be accepted by my peers, to be as close to a wh...
