I often say I am doing ‘fine’ when I am not. Here’s why I am committing to being honest about how I feel.

It’s been a tough year. It’s hard to see the silver lining or the bright side, and yet when confronted with a “Hey, how have you been?” I often cheerfully reply, “I’m fine, you?”

In passing, it’s easy enough to throw out this lie. It’s polite, it’s expected. But when pressed for details, I crumble. The truth is, I haven’t been doing well, but personally it is extremely uncomfortable to watch someone’s face as I tell them we’ve been having a hard time. It’s so easy for me to be open and intimate on the Internet: the people liking my stories or posts are anonymous.