Here's the thing with that username: five seconds of Googling will turn up my real name. Another five seconds will turn up my history. In those ten seconds, I've gone from an anonymous writer to a flesh-and-blood person with a real voice, real stories, real problems, and real accomplishments. I say this not to promote myself, but to illustrate that I breathe.

With personalities such as ours, it's often difficult to openly connect to others. We are vulnerable, we are open, we seek comfort in others' presence. But online, the anonymity allows us to cherry-pick who we present to the world. It's a wonderful self-defense mechanism, but it's a double-edged sword. I know from personal experience that trying to discuss the troubles that you all have bravely shared on this website can be overly difficult due to the stigma that we all feel from being just slightly off-center from generally accepted mainstream society.