Emily McDowell

Finding yourself' is not really how it works. You aren’t a ten-dollar bill in last winter’s coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right here, buried under cultural conditioning, other people’s opinions and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. 'Finding yourself' is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you“'Finding yourself' is not really how it works. You aren’t a ten-dollar bill in last winter’s coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right here, buried under cultural conditioning, other people’s opinions and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. 'Finding yourself' is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you

When you get sick or lose someone, your identity by default becomes' sick person' or' someone who lost someone,' in many, many ways, you are the same person you were before your diagnosis or before this thing happened. Read MoreYou still appreciate humor, you are still a whole person. There wasn't really anything in greeting card world that allowed for that.

We just don't know what to say as a culture. It's not something we are taught, people You are terrified of saying the wrong thing or making it worse or feeling awkward, and awkwardness is scary for People You. I wanted to make a book that was attractive to people who would be scared off by a self-help book.

The absolute worst thing you can do is nothing, that is so much worse than reaching out and fumbling or saying,' I don't know what to say, but I care and I want to be here for you.'.