Things I know to be true:

1. We are more alike than different.

Each person’s life is unique yet there are universal human experiences that we can all understand. When I read my poem about a stranger who mistook me for her child and absently gave me a warm, loving embrace that rocked my 10-year-old world, people can relate to that. Maybe they were not so emotionally neglected that random affection from a stranger would leave them frozen to the spot and unable to speak, but they can likely relate to an experience when they received something significant from a surprising source that opened their eyes to what they didn’t even know they were missing. Nor do they have to have had my exact childhood to relate on a human level to that kind of yearning.

Sharing our vulnerability leads to connection and breaks down the us / them dynamic which is plaguing our society. We could all do with more frequent reminders of the similarities in our human experience.

2. Balance is the key.

My experience with depression is a longer story but the big lesson for me has been that the right medication brings an equilibrium I never knew existed. Yes, I can get very angry, sad, etc. when life happens but then I return to a baseline of sorts where I can still feel those emotions but they don’t completely overwhelm all other experiences for weeks or months.

This also applies to changes I make as I continue to grow. For example, there was a period when I needed to practice standing up for myself and for a while I was probably standing up even more than necessary. But I needed that practice and the confidence I gained so that eventually I could find my balance and be able to choose which battles to fight and which to skip. So yes, the pendulum will swing wide sometimes and that’s natural as you grow but allow yourself the time and space to find your balance.

3. Action moves us forward.

■ Physical activity such as taking a walk, swimming, or dancing has been proven to reduce stress and alter your mood. When I’m in a funk, I try to remember how good it feels for me to walk in the woods and how I always feel at least a little better afterwards. Taking that action moves me forward.

■ Trying something new and allowing yourself to do it imperfectly can be a great way to move forward with small steps. I like to think of it as practice or an experiment. I won’t do it perfectly but I will learn something and it will help me in the future. This is how I try to approach things like reading my poetry publicly or having a difficult conversation. Each new experience reminds me of how far I’ve come and becomes part of the new narrative I’m creating about myself and my life. Each time I ‘practice’ moves me forward.