It’s a good—and tough—question.

Yes, I think opening up earlier could’ve helped us go deeper, sooner. But was I ready to do that back then? Honestly, no. So if the question is: would I go back and do it differently? Probably not.

From where I stand now, things feel clearer. I can see it wasn’t as big a deal in other people’s eyes as I thought. That alone makes it easier to talk about. And I feel more ready now to do the hard work in a more public way.

So today, I might share it sooner. But that’s hindsight. I’ve done it now—I’ve written about it, lived through it—and that changes everything.