Maya Shankar

But at the end of the day, it's based on a pretty limited set of data points that we've happened to collect over the course of our lives based on the random arbitrary experiences that we've happened to undergo.

And it is sometimes a massive change, right?

The anvil falling out of the deep blue sky that reveals something to us that had previously been hidden from view, or it's the new stresses or constraints of our new environment that allows us to see something in us that was not that visible to us before.

And so for Olivia, she actually only really registers the gravity of her situation when her boyfriend's family comes to visit.

And that's because for much of Olivia's life, she was a pathological people pleaser, okay?

She desperately wanted the approval and affection of others.

Growing up, she went to a wealthy private school.

Her parents were very middle class.

She never really fit in.

She was bullied a lot.

And she never felt like she had her boyfriend's family's approval.

And when she comes in, she has to confront for the first time that she cannot curate a version of herself for these people in order to gain their approval.

And by the way, like Olivia's story is extreme, but most of us can resonate with this, right?

Most of us want to create a version of ourselves for other people that is palatable, that is lovable, that is likable, that wins us favor, right?

With other human beings.

And almost by brute force, Olivia, because she cannot curate an image of her, she has a ventilator strapped to her face.

She can't be poised.

She can't be charming.

She can't make funny jokes.

She has to confront...