This was the day after leaving what was the most toxic place I have ever worked in my life. I fondly refer to that day as the day I got my life back. One of the few good things about that employer was it got me out of Syracuse and back to New York City.
It’s not the most flattering photo of me anyone has ever made. (My young cousin made it.) But when I look at it I see someone who is freer than she’d been in a very long time, is in the middle of a new phase of loving herself more deeply than ever before, and who has celebrated her freedom by doing what she most loves: making photos.
I miss that wool coat. It was my favorite. I bought it in Tokyo in 1999 and literally wore it all to pieces.