I used to hide behind screens online, always using a different alias for each social media outlet. Not any more. Writing has given me answers to a big question: Am I—an artsy actress turned corporate America salesperson—just pretending to be me? To be someone else others expected?

I wrote a novel, imagining a “what if” I’d possessed the strength to find my true path, if I had dared greatly to be the person I was meant to be. The therapeutic effort did more for my mood than any anti-depressant, sugar fix, or sexual liaison, though I recognized my passion for the perfect sentence as a high.

I’m not as perky as the Denver Daisies pictured, but as I continue to write, I will strive to be as honest as possible while stripping away my mask. Join me as I ponder, vent, and create as part of my reinvention, my recovery from addiction, depression, and obesity, and a rebuilding of my self-worth. Like the woman’s journey in my book, I’ll strive to live my true life, the dream life I’ve left unlived…until now.