Over the course of my life, I’ve pictured turning seventeen a hundred times over. I would grow up, take charge of my own life, and begin to make my impact on the world. But the older I got, the more apprehensive I felt about growing up— the media and the people in my life never depicted life as this complicated. CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET is a journey through my mind and my anxieties. Each individual piece is about one aspect of my life; there are pieces through which I try to navigate the relationships in my life, the anxiety I feel around growing up, and the insecurities and body image issues I have. The passing of time and growth and change is so arbitrary; one can never pinpoint the exact moment they changed, or how they did. Identity is such a free-flowing and constantly evolving thing, made up of your own individual journey to where you are at any given moment. So rather than focusing on who I would’ve, could’ve, or should’ve been, this piece is a personal reflection on who I am.