The Map
By Joy Nicholas
This essay received an honorable mention in our Circle of Trust writing contest—exclusively open to Exhale members. Learn more here.
“Have you noticed… anything… you’d like to talk about?”
The fifth-grade teacher sitting across the desk from you speaks gently, but still you’re surprised. You’ve felt lost for so long, waiting for some version of this question, for someone to say it’s not in your head and point you in the right direction. Where do you even start?




