validation isn’t freedom

Recently my dad texted me this picture of him and me from 2009. I was 12, about to turn 13. Already I had reached my adult height (I thought I was going to be really tall, but I stopped growing at 5’6). I was just about to start high school.

Back then my desires were so shallow—I wanted to get into a good college, and get a job in finance. I wanted to dr…