“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
I want to stretch my heart to the breaking as a wife, a lover, a mother. I want to be there for my little sister and baby brother when life isn't fair. I want amazing friends who order Indian food that I'll eat, who know my car's name is Veronica, and who recognize my happy-wiggle dance. I will expose in writing my vulnerable and invincible selves at war with each other. I aspire to catalyze change at the intersection of science and life. I resolve to indulge the eonophile and the cheese fiend who have taken residence in my mouth and tummy. Three times a week, I plan to glove up and punch things until I'm high. I always want enough money in my pocketbook to buy an ice cream cone. I want dirty little secrets. And I require the strength to say no so that I can push aside the clutter to make room in my life for everything I desire.
Because of these ambitions, I won't return to the job I once prized. I surrendered security to regain time that is mine, going out on my own so that I might realize my dreams. The great, the small. Each and every one of them.
— Samantha Gray