The more we care what others think of us, the harder it is to know ourselves. But self-compassion can help. — Depending on who you listen to, I’m a “try-hard,” an imposter, no fun at parties, and could be improving at, well, just about everything, from the way I dress, to the job I do, to wrangling my eyebrows. All of these are things that have been said about me or…

What happens when “just take care of yourself” starts to sound a lot like “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”? — I think it was the suggestion that I join an after-work mental health workshop that involved a quiz at the end. Or maybe it was the earnest pitch offering a desktop extension to make my laptop “cozier,” whatever that means. I’m not sure exactly which moment was the tipping point…

“I was a person before I was a mother, before I was a teen mother, before I was the pregnant girl.” — The last time I spoke to Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder of Generation Hope, she told me that student parents, especially those who are teenagers, are a “largely invisible population.” Despite being at the epicenter of intersecting issues, including systemic racism, poverty, classism, and basic needs insecurity, young adults who are…

My very favorite belongings are ones that belonged to someone else in my family first: The cutting board my dad and grandfather created from a slab of butcher block. The typewriter that sits on the shelf of my childhood bedroom, a graduation gift my grandmother got before she went to…

Just a month after Kristin Torres, 32, found a new church to attend in Boston, her grandmother, Carmen, died suddenly. Carmen was a devout Catholic herself and in many ways, Torres considered her her best friend. Torres told her new friends at St. Peter’s she would see them in two…

Everything has changed and not enough has. As I saw posts commemorating the “pandemic year,” I felt myself growing unsettled when it came to reflection. The COVID-19 crisis didn’t begin when it hit the United States, which means a lot of the anniversary acknowledgement seems to leave out the horrors…

How do you make friends in your first weeks at college when you don’t know who you can trust? — Since Emily Thompson arrived for her freshman year at Tufts University, she’s been in mandatory quarantine, only leaving her dorm room, which she shares with a roommate, to go to the bathroom or throw out garbage. Their dorm room is next to the hall’s trash can, Emily says, and though…

They may not have a safe back-to-school plan, but darned if they’ll miss this branding opportunity — Student safety has become increasingly available for purchase in recent years. From pepper sprays to bulletproof backpacks popping up in Crayola-colored back-to-school store displays, it’s easier to sell a product that feigns safety than to enact policies that might actually provide it. …

With emotions running high and messages easily misinterpreted, here’s how to keep the thread from getting awkward — In one of her ongoing group texts, Amanda has been participating in what’s become the pandemic version of small talk: She shared an update of how her family was holding up against the spread of coronavirus. Her dad, in Texas, was still going into the office every day. Her sister…