Dear Readers,

I’ve been inspired by the line that Kristen Bell’s character says on the pilot episode of Nobody Wants This: “You know what else feels good? To, um, say something embarrassing, like, the second you meet someone.” I’ll go first, since this is my first editor’s note and formal introduction to all you lovely readers of post-: Today I almost (key word almost!) overslept my dentist appointment to fill two cavities. There are about four items in my fridge currently in decomposition. I had three Depop offers rejected in a row. And I guess Kristen’s right, it does feel good! But in honesty, I think vulnerability is a practice of care. It’s an interaction charged with the genuine—to share something real, to listen without judgment. 

Our writers this week are also getting vulnerable. For Lifestyle, Daniella bravely opens up about her distaste for children, spurred by a particularly cutting interaction, as an ancient college senior; Reina shares the embarrassing moment of mistakenly identifying someone as her hometown best friend and her thoughts on homesickness. In A&C, writer Indigo dives into the vulnerability of Charli xcx and Lorde’s remixed track “Girl, so confusing” through her own life’s ex-friends and adversaries while Johan explores SOPHIE’s SOPHIE and the paradoxical intimacy and distance that comes with a posthumous album release. For Narrative, Ana gets real about “Jell-O time” and how living with her friends gets her through the sluggishness of life, and Lynn opens up about her changed relationship with nature. Similarly, our Feature writer Michelle shares the harrowing experience of California’s fire season and how she’s been shaped by the raging wild. In post-pourri, Nahye exposes her own LinkedIn stalking tendencies and the dreaded professional profile-hopping on that platform. And before you get too deep into that rabbit hole, check out this week’s festively fall crossword as a feel-good break.

The semester feels like it’s getting to its toughest point: endless midterms, running into people you ghosted, and other embarrassments/difficulties/obstacles abound. But the wonderful part of being vulnerable is that you may find yourself in good, if slightly miserable, company. It’s a varied and rewarding experience. There are as many valencies of vulnerability—from the humorously self-aware to the profoundly personal—as the number of post- articles in this issue (perhaps even more!), and I hope you’ll open yourself up to vulnerability as you open up this week’s issue of post-!

Being so for real,
Emilie Guan
Copy-Chief