My intention was always to go back to my binders as soon as I was done nursing my son. But the longer I waited, and the longer they sat there in my drawer, tucked in with my socks and underwear, the more they became less a sense of self that waited to be reclaimed and more a lurking, almost ominous presence that filled me with anxiety every time I thought about going to put one on.

Halloween costumes are traditionally scary – ghosts, goblins, political figures. Look back at the last 20 years and realize … that you frequently went an entire year wearing a costume and only got a reprieve on that one glorious October day. Terrifying.