If you’ve been active on social media lately, you would’ve seen the #10YearChallenge hashtag, along with side-by-side photos of your friends from 10 years ago and now, dominating your Facebook and Instagram feeds.

I have been taking swimming lessons in the open ocean for two summers, but I have not quite shaken off my fear of the deep, blue water.

My adventure with the open seas started three years ago when I toyed with the idea of joining my local surf lifesaving club.

Title: Sewing a flourishing community
Artwork by: Elizabeth Mattson (@mattsonmadeshop)
Description: “The Hands Series”…

I could feel my heart pulsing. Any sense of calm I’d been harboring fled like an outgoing tide. In the Pacific Northwest, I experienced a similar feeling looking over the edge of a cliff hundreds of feet above the wild Pacific Ocean. This time the cause was even more intimidating—I was on a blind date.

My name is Anatasya, and I have a skin condition called albinism.

When I was younger, I didn’t feel any different from everyone else. I only realized that I was different when I looked at other people’s skin and observed that the color of their skin is different from mine.