I’ll never forget the first time I read a personal essay. It was a sublime and harrowing experience that I can communicate only through a personal essay that I will write someday, and that will be well told and meaningful and make you rethink your worldview forever — much like these actually good ones that follow.

Other People’s Houses: What I Saw While Working in Hospice

“Here is my secret to this work: I am a selfish detective. I want to know the innermost workings of what makes every person tick. I want to know what has left people ashamed and touched. I have always been someone who has asked one too many prying questions, only now I get paid to do it.”

How Instagram Encouraged My Eating Disorder

“Social media generally, and Instagram specifically, have created a breeding ground for disordered eating. Many popular hashtags, including #gains, #eatclean and #fitgirls, offer a distorted perspective on normal body image and eating habits.”

“We Try to Keep You in Debt as Long as Possible”: Confessions of a Collections Agent

“Collections plans are designed to keep the debtor in debt as long as possible through escalating interest rates, thus establishing a consistent flow of money for the banks and collection agencies. I don’t know the outcome of her situation after I hung up, but it is likely she was foreclosed upon, like so many others.”

I Visited the Museum of Broken Relationships. With My Ex.

“It’s date night at the Museum of Broken Relationships in Hollywood, and Patrick and I are poring over the museum’s collection, reading the stories attached to each artifact with lurid fascination. There’s an awkward vibe of sexual tension among our fellow museumgoers. With linked arms or hands cupped over their mouths to suppress a giggle, most of them are probably wondering if they’ll get laid afterward.”

I’m Still Not Your Black Friend

“There’s always been a history of ownership over blackness — it’s been happening since the birth of this nation. Throughout slavery, segregation and more, it has always seemed like black people were on a leash that got only slightly loosened as their owners got more comfortable with not putting muzzles on their mouths.”