East Hamptons

This thought I had – will determine a person worthy of traveling with Monaya or not. To this day, the German doesn’t know who Anthony Bourdain is.

“I am blessed, I am smart, and I can do anything.” These are the words I repeat to myself every day, a mantra to help me feel confident and self-assured. But as I sat across the table from him, I realized that men are not immune to insecurities and self-doubt. I asked him if his mother had ever told him he was perfect just the way he was born, something I had heard a mother say to her son. When I asked if he knew what body dysmorphia was, his response surprised me. The more we talked, the more I came to understand the depths of male insecurities.

I thought I was aware of these issues, but I had forgotten that men will go to great lengths to prove a point, just like women do. As he shared his secret, I felt the weight of the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and physical insecurities. His story blew the doors off what I thought I knew about the subject, reminding me that we all have our struggles and that we must support each other in our journeys.