THE OTHER DAY I was working with a room full of teenagers. We were discussing some of the dumb mistakes we’ve made in our lives, and after the punchline of each particularly bad one, the room erupted into a round of "Oh my gawwwwd"s as we collectively cringed and cracked up. 

Eventually, I started to move the conversation somewhere more thoughtful. Wanting them to consider if these mistakes had any lessons or meaning, I offered my own perspective. 

“I often feel like some of these things have been for a reason, like— “

And suddenly, there it is, that word— like a fish bone stuck in my throat at a fancy dinner, I try to swallow it but it wants to come up no matter how awkward it’s going to be—  

“— God...meant for it to happen."

Did I just say God in front of a room full of drug-using teenagers? Who the fuck am I? Will this negate all the credit I've earned from being into weird Japanese shit and wearing hologram slip-ons? I frantically think. I was raised atheist! This is weird for me, too! I'm not a virgin! I want to scream in the Matrix-worthy slow-mo after-second of my words.