I got my first creeper when I was a freshman in high school. I have no idea how he got my number, but he texted me nonstop for several months. At first I thought it was kind of flattering. This boy was a couple of years older than me, he told me I was pretty and gave me attention I've never received before. Quickly though, the novelty of it wore off. He wouldn't stop texting me and it would make me feel uncomfortable.

Finally, I asked him to back off, but my request was not heeded. He continued until I threatened to get the school involved. That fear of going to school and possibly seeing him was like having a large pit in my stomach. Eventually my fear of him faded, but that pit-in-the-stomach feeling was replaced with new people and situations.

From getting hit on at work, to having a man reach up my skirt and touch my bare butt at a bar, to having a boss imply that I was a prostitute; these experiences continued to add to the dirty, gross feeling that I felt since I was a child. It began to wear on me. To wear on how I viewed myself and others. I thought I was being dramatic by being upset at my abuse and harassment until I was reminded that I was not alone on Monday.

Me Too. These simple words brought a weight off of my shoulders. Me too. From women, men, and people who do not identify. Me too. Accompanied by stories of sexual abuse or harassment. Me too. Just those words alone. Something beautiful was unfolding, people were supporting one another and beginning to build up the courage to share their experiences. It was wonderful to get to sit back and understand the magnitude of this resistance. Survivors were not holding in their stories, but instead coming out and showing that this is a systemic issue that must be dealt with. Something, that once out in the open, cannot be ignored anymore.

I am a believer that once something is out in the open it begins to lose its power. That is not to say that you should share everything to everyone. If you are a survivor of abuse you do what you want with that information. You do not owe anyone your story, it is as real kept to yourself as it is shared with the public. Though, if you do choose to keep your story please do make sure to take the proper legal or psychological approaches in order to start the healing process. These steps are designed to help you on your journey to recovery.

I, after many years of keeping in certain experiences, have chosen to stop holding everything to myself. That is not to say that all of my Me too’s get to be everyone's to see. But allowing myself to be more open about situations that made me feel uncomfortable started to chip away the dirty, gross feelings that I had building up over years and years of unwanted sexual advances or touches.

For far too long keeping in my stories festered like an open wound. That wound turned into anger. I was angry at my abusers, angry at people who perpetuated how I felt, but most of all angry at myself for allowing my self esteem to be determined this way. I wore my anger like armor that kept people away. This armor didn’t just keep bad people away though, a lot of my friends could feel this wall around me and that lead to loneliness. Some people came along and made me realize that was not healthy and I was not alone in my dirty, gross feeling.

Long story short, I have started to work through this anger and the way I've viewed myself for years. I've been able to start this work by simply telling my stories and how it made me feel to those around me. They've been able to say, “it's not your fault,” “you're not weird for feeling this way,” or simply, “me too.”