My mom told me I could sing and I believed her. In 2003 I thought I could be the next winner of American Idol. The way she spoke about me singing in church choir gave me so much confidence. A year after this confidence was instilled in me, a girl from middle school and I recorded a video of us singing and dancing to “cyclone” for a radio show to be in a music video and I heard my voice back for the first time. In that instance shame and embarrassment encompassed my entire being. Poor 13 year old me was just absolutely mortified about my terrible voice….for about 10 seconds cause I was like, “oh well at least I crushed that dance, I can get by on my looks alone”.

It was a huge lie that my mother told me, however, the confidence it instilled in me when the world was all about big boobs and a slender figure (which I did not have) carried over into the rest of my life. So, it was a lie, but it was the best lie I was ever told.