Low self-esteem makes it tough to demand your worth. — Do you know what a “high-value woman” is? It’s someone who is in touch with her feminine side, dresses classy, has a strong social circle, is powerful in pursuing her dreams, and takes care of her appearance. …

Not just for the workplace. — I’m a Gen X chick in tech. That means most of my career, I was the only woman in a room full of men. Growing up in a strict Muslim house with mostly male cousins, I knew how to not make myself too flashy or draw attention. …

What happens after you sign the papers? — I thought about divorce for years. Years. It wasn’t a spontaneous decision and it wasn’t easy. I researched it for years, to the point that learning more about divorce became my secret porn stash. I wanted to be as prepared as possible. There’s no question that going through a divorce…

I play the role of two people all the time. — Allegedly, there are people without a running dialog in their heads. On the flip side, there are those of us with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Our brains are like a room full of radios and televisions turned onto different stations. If one is turned off, another one turns on. It’s…

It’s the gift that keeps on giving. — My divorce became final in December 2021. It’s currently March 2023. Why am I still suffering the consequences? Sigh. They say you never truly know someone until you divorce them. “They” were wrong. …

The burden of climbing out of its pit. — It shocks me that there are people who don’t have depression. What is it like? And when you do go through the blues, is the pain unbearable, or is it so brief that it’s barely noticeable? What is it like to not push down a hidden shadow every day that…

Like, really really really bad. — It’s 7:30 pm on Monday. I’m driving to a ritzy, gated community once familiar to me. I’m going to see Sean, a guy I dated when I first embarked on my divorce journey. It’s been two years since Sean and I first met. He’s a bigwig in the medical device…

Can’t it ever go away? — This isn’t a fancy article for a publication. This won’t be proofread. There are loads of typos. It’s just a raw dump of what’s been in my brain for sanity’s sake. Maybe the content will eventually fuel a formal submission, but for now…this isn’t it. Dear Diary… I’m over it. …

And I’m one of the lucky ones — I feel for stay-at-home moms who are forced to stay married because otherwise, they’re fucked financially. …