Happy I didn’t fuck up my life and the lives of my progeny by birthing them.

Madrona. They’re only in a few places in the world. Their bark sheds like paper and becomes kindling, leaving a super smooth trunk. The shed bark encourages forest fires, killing competitors and making room for their offspring to thrive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutus_menziesii

Snort and swallow

While they will definitely not have the answers or advice on how to solve all the issues you encounter, they do have insight into helping people deal with issues that often feel insurmountable because of mental illness. i.e. if you are depressed, and that is preventing you from finding a good job or performing adequately in your current one, they might be able to help you understand why you are depressed and what’s keeping you from doing anything about it. They can help you reveal things about yourself that you didn’t realize, which can help you then move forward with things that you’ve been avoiding or deal with things that you’ve been holding onto for the wrong reasons.

A good therapist will help you to find reasons to and ways to deal with your problems. A mental institution provides a place for people who are a danger to themselves or others to get mental health treatment.

Loss of time. Scary, because apparently I was lucid for the ride home, talked with my friend who picked me up, but I remember NONE of it. Also, constipation.

“Those teachers and your fellow students? They’re not actually that stupid and you’re not crazy. Confront your parents about those standardized tests the school had you take; they’re hiding the results from you. You could do so much more if only they’d let you skip some grades, but they don’t want you to grow up too fast and think you’ll socialize better if you don’t skip. You’ll be bored and never learn how to actually learn hard subjects if you don’t get away from these imbeciles quick. Oh, and you’ll develop a condescending tone which drives away every potential friend you could have had if you don’t do this. Also, you’re trans.”

I use email with GnuPG. Everything else is woefully insecure. BTW, I have no friends.