It took me 10 years to be comfortable enough to tell people that I am a single mom. For me there was so much shame attached to that title, that I was so ashamed of myself being one. I was never comfortable being me, as I grew up to be an outsider. I grew up in Europe as an Asian. I studied engineering as a woman. I work in IT as a woman. I always knew I was different, but I was never really comfortable in my own skin. And being a single mom really made my self-identity worse. I had no confidence of being a woman, or a mom. I felt that I screwed up life being divorced. And the worst, I also screwed up my innocent children.
After doing a lot of growth, I realized that this is all a trick. We are not defined by the labels society gives us or we give ourselves. We are not defined by false beliefs. We can be defined by acceptance, love and peace.
Be yourself,
Shih-Ying