It feels like a lot of hard work. It took a lot to move on from my childhood trauma caused by growing up a gay Jehovah's Witness in a small town. I ran into so many hurdles and unexpected problems, not only in the world around me, but also inside myself. I've been on my own for almost 17 years and am about to turn 34. It's been one hell of a ride, and I've made a lot of HUGE mistakes, but I made it out of those darker than dark places that come with meth addiction and homelessness and I'm extremely proud of myself for that. I still have a lot more growing up to do, but I'm fully self reliant, employed full time and back in school to finish my BA. Growing up was hard, but feels pretty damn good.