Alright, I’m going to break this into two, since they’re both going to be long. Sorry not sorry.

#42 first: who is your biggest inspiration?

OK, so, I wrote up a long thing on how my parents are my biggest inspiration (which is true), but it ended up being way too personal to share with The Internet.

So instead, I’m going to call out @caprichista, one of my best friends and also just one of the best beings. We’ve been friends for about a decade now, which is crazy, and you guys? She’s taught me so much about how to be a better human.

When I started college, I was really afraid about this whole Making Friends thing. Most of my friends prior to that point had been friendships of convenience, because I grew up in a small suburban area. I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how to interact with a friend without being sarcastic and insincere, since I had convinced myself that the only way my friends would keep hanging out with me is if I was funny enough to be kept around but never too serious or too Me to scare them off.

And, like. I didn’t have to do that around her. As soon as we became friends I felt Seen.

Being friends with her has taught me how to be sincere with the people I care about. She has helped me realize that the people who really matter shouldn’t view you as a burden, and that Real Human Emotion is valuable. She’s also one of the most frighteningly intelligent and clever people I’ve ever met. The amount of thought she puts into everything she does is incredible, and basically everything she says is devastatingly clever and/or poignant.

Basically, as long as we stay friends, I am confident that I will continue to become a better and better person, and since I never thought I would have a friend like that, that’s sort of incredible.