Asking for what we need, by Kathryn Nicolai

Kathryn Nicolai, creator of the Nothing Much Happens podcast, learns at an early age to diminish her own needs. She never wants to become a problem for other people, so she pretends like she’s always okay. When she gets an opportunity to study abroad in Italy, a difficult experience with her host family causes her to retreat further into herself. It’s only when she feels the compassionate concern of someone who tells her it’s okay to have needs that she learns that it’s okay to take up space.

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