If you haven't already seen it, please read Tim O'Brien's amazing novel about Vietnam, The Things They Carried. The idea of what those soldiers carried, tangible and intangible, has stayed with me for years.
The idea of things carried arose today in a painful, ultimately (I hope) life-changing way. This diary is not overtly political, but the personal does connect with the political. Self-reclamation and autonomy are political acts.
I don't want to tell the whole story, both because it's too personal and because I don't have the words. But a short introduction should suffice.
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