I have almost always thought of myself as a smooth yarn spinner, able to finesse any situation with the power of my words (or with my sheer determination to keep yammering).

Do I get pressured into dropping the act and telling my friends how I really feel? Sometimes.

I have chosen the trappings of badassery over the carefully maintained façade of propriety that characterized the public profiles of my many idols (Rosa Parks, Nora Ephron, Malala Yousafzai, Amelia Earhart, Valentina Tereshkova etc).

It’s clear that I have had enough with being careful and circumspect.