My weight fluctuated when I was 30, and I did the unthinkable - I stepped out as a plus-sized model.

We come in many different shapes and sizes, and we need to support each other and our differences. Our beauty is in our differences.

I delight in my family obligations, but they leave little time for breaks let alone quick trips across the country.

From the time I started school, it was clear to everyone that I wasn't learning at the same pace as other kids.

Though my parents assured me over and over again that I wasn't stupid or slow, I sensed that my dyslexia was now a stigma on all of us.

I'm proud that today, at 43 years old, I've come to value the aging process and focus on inner rather than outer beauty.

But life inevitably throws us curve balls, unexpected circumstances that remind us to expect the unexpected. I've come to understand these curve balls are the beautiful unfolding of both karma and current.