The other day, a great friend of mine responded to one of my first posts saying, “Your   blog is exactly what I needed today and like every day… It’s a really important topic. I feel like not enough people talk about it. I’m really glad you’re writing about it. I need it.” We then proceeded to commiserate about the fact that neither of us feels like we truly have our life together, but act like we do every day.

So if, when addressed on a 1:1 basis, we think it’s a good idea to talk about the fact that we’re struggling to pull our lives together, why is it so taboo to speak about it more publicly? Why do we feel like we need to constantly have our shit together?

Because we refuse to talk about our feelings. A movie cliche, yes I know, but hear me out. By refusing to acknowledge that everything might not be going great, we can’t take the steps to make life as great as it can be. If you’ve already made this realization, what comes next? Let’s just stop pretending.

To “fake it ’till you make it” or pretend that everything’s fine isn’t necessarily the answer to this ever-burning question of whether or not we’re properly progressing in life.

Talking about it, writing about it, reading about it, and just admitting that everything’s not all sunshine and rainbows all the time I think is a great first step in making a positive change. It’s acknowledging that there is room to grow and allowing others to help us figure out how. Sometimes we need a little push or a little company in our struggles, and the best place to go is to friends experiencing the same stages in life…. but if we refuse to talk about it, how do we even know that they are?

I say go ahead and assume that they have their own struggles, too. Open up a conversation and I guarantee it’ll be met with “no way, me too!” because they’re most likely feeling the same way. When we open up the conversation we can start to realize that everyone else is just acting, too, and we can finally start to feel like we’re not a failure for reconsidering a career choice or still buying your clothes at Target instead of Saks Fifth Avenue.