Im happy but there is a heavy feeling of sadness in my heart that I just can't remove. Why am I like this?

It’s the most beautiful and liberating thing in the world.

I was tired of trying and failing.

I was tired of fighting.

What is the one thing you don't understand that others do?

The sadness was still there.

What most people don’t know unless they’ve looked more closely is that there is also an element of deep, profound sadness that has always been with me since as long as I can remember.

Without resistance, sadness has a sense of beauty and depth I cannot find otherwise in life.

I’m wondering about attachment and transference with the therapist and the idea of escape and fantasy? How much do you think your strong feelings, constant thoughts, desires to be with your therapist are a way to escape from your present life? I wonder if the transference serves another purpose than to show us our wounds and/or past experiences, but is a present coping strategy for managing what we don’t want to face (even if unconsciously) in the present—-current relationships, life circumstances, etc. Can anyone relate to this concept of escape in relation to their therapy relationship? How does this play out for you?

It’s impossible to overstate the freedom and peace I discovered, and I realized the only one who had been keeping those from me was… me and my imagined standards and expectations for how I had imagined I should be.

Now, this may sound like a story of failure and giving up, but it’s actually a story of liberation.

But no matter what I read or practiced, I could never make the sadness budge for longer than a few fleeting moments - and even then, it was likely due to me being distracted from the sensation of sadness rather than anything actually shifting.

I have a bad reputation and need help. What should I do?

Needless to say, my failed attempts to fix my sadness simply brought me more pain and suffering.

What I am trying to say is that when you stop trying to change yourself into something you are not, you give yourself the gift of discovering yourself as you already are.

It’s here now, writing to you.

What do you think of the Black history lessons in the PBS documentary about jazz pianist-singer Hazel Scott?

For much of my adult life, I interpreted this sadness as something being wrong - with either myself or my life in general.

This interpretation lead me on a path of self improvement, to fix what I considered to be “wrong” with myself.

I had run out of hope.

Is it possible for people who claim to be genuine and honest to actually not be? If so, why do they behave this way?

It’s still here.

It’s difficult to put into words exactly what caused what, but to the best of my ability to describe it, I felt as if my will to keep fighting was beaten right out of me.

Your job is not to be the manager of your life, but the one who discovers yourself fully.

What measures do celebrities take to protect their images from being used for commercial purposes without permission? How much does this typically cost them?

So if you are sad - like me - then be sad.

It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I finally fell out of that ferris wheel of trying and failing to fix myself.

Be who you already are.

What are some possible reasons for an unfaithful spouse to not confess their affair to their partner and instead end it without telling them?

Most people that know me would probably describe me as a social, happy, and somewhat quirky person with a twisted sense of humor.

You are like me, then.

When I stopped trying to force myself to be something I am not, I gave myself the freedom of being who I am.

What do you respect the most about Elon Musk?

In the absence of a should, I was free to be as I am.

And the sadness?

So I finally threw my hands up and said something to the tune of “fuck it, since I can't seem to change, I’ll just be whatever I am then.”

Is it ethical for same-sex couples to raise children?

You are the masterpiece you came here to discover.

But unlike before, there is no more resistance to the sadness.