Why I Repeat Myself

• Because I’m getting older

• Because I can’t remember who I already told this to

• Because the brain rewires itself in adolescence and pregnancy and menopause, and also trauma changes the brain, and I don’t know what’s what anymore

• Because I mean it

• Because finding the right words is hard, and once I’ve found the perfect words to express what I mean, I can promise you I’ll use them more than once

• Because we forget

• Because you forgot

• Because I forgot

• Because this is essential to my story, my identity

• Because it means something new this time

• Because if something is worth saying, it’s probably worth repeating

• Because you didn’t listen

• Because I didn’t feel heard

• Because I like the way the words sound when I speak them

• Because I want my children to remember me saying this

• Because I’m tired

• Because I’m scared

• Because nothing changed

• Because I’m human

• Because I need to hear myself say it again