Katja Bart

Beauty is not an objective category.

The first time we broke up, it was 2015 and I wanted to be a writer.

Here’s a quick litmus test to check who is really your friend: How do they react when you’re struggling?

You won’t waste time trying to “fix” them

You have to be the strong one, and you don’t know how. 

What I know is that there is hope in the air, and that is what’s important. A chance to start again.

The phone appears in your hand by magic, and you’re halfway through dialing that person’s number before you realize what’s happening. Didn’t you delete that? (You did. You still remember it by heart.) 

When I sought treatment, I discovered that literally, no-one in my life cared.

In 2015 I did what I had been trying to do since I was in the fourth grade—getting a novel published.

“We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.”

It’s not a form of leveling-up either, where you reach some plateau of consciousness and never come down from it. Self-respect is self-awareness.

The bit about the “friend zone” which is, to me, my number one peeve, is that it sets up a false hierarchy.