This Is Me (ePub)

HEY HEY!

When This Is Us first debuted, a divided America embraced a show that celebrates human connection. When I hear from our viewers, you tell me how you relate to the humor, depth, and vibrance of my character, Kate Pearson. “I don't know what you've been through to play her,” I was told recently, “but it must be something.”

So I decided to share my struggles and triumphs. I want you to join me on my journey not just of self-acceptance, but of becoming the person we are meant to be. To move forward, I first had to look back to my early years in Gainesville, Florida. When my father left us, my life slowly devolved into the survival mode of trailer-park living. My mother married a new man, and at first I thought it was a new start, but instead it became a nightmare of humiliation over my weight. I started keeping secrets, whether it was about eating my feelings or my first love, a boy who truly cared for me but only when no one was watching.

No matter what, I always had a flicker of hope that my life could be what I wanted. It drew me to Los Angeles, where I soon realized Hollywood gave women two options: size zero or sight gag. I found real love, got married, then got divorced, which broke my heart even if it was the right choice for us. The night of my thirtieth birthday, I was in a movie theater and thought I was having a heart attack. That was the catalyst for real change in my life—changes that brought me to This Is Us, and, through this book, to you.

In This Is Me, I want to give you an action plan for fulfilling your destiny and passion. I want to be that best friend in your head, sharing the are-you-kidding-me, I-wish-I-was moments that only come from being honest in giving life advice from my personal experience. Should you text that guy back? (No. Seriously, don't.) What do you wear to Oprah's house for lunch? And how exactly do you resist punching that beeyotch at work?

Like many people, I have used food to fill the void and numb the pain. I have met enough people to know that whatever form that coping mechanism takes, what isn't helping you is hurting you. We can change, and we can have the lives we want and deserve. So whether you are a young hopeful or a late bloomer, I wrote This Is Me with you in mind.