TRAVELING TOWARD
e s o p r u P
Blogger Glo Atanmo Finds a New Outlook by Lauren Winfield
GLO ATANMO WAS BORN IN CALIFORNIA and raised by Nigerian immigrant parents. And having both feet in two different worlds sparked her lifelong pursuit of finding a place to belong. “At a young age, I felt like I constantly had to straddle between two identities. ‘Am I Nigerian, or am I more American? Which one do I belong to? Am I doing American right? Am I doing Nigerian right?’” Her parents pushed for a traditional career, but Glo decided to bet on her dreams and her tenacity. With only $500 and a suitcase, she boarded a plane with a one-way ticket to the UK. Her goal? To tell the stories she found while traveling all over the world. “I never gave myself a plan B, and that gave me such a relentlessness to be like, ‘Glo, figure it out.’ At my
Editor's note: This article discusses thoughts of suicide. If you or someone you love is struggling, help is available. Please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
When you’ve worked hard to build your dream life, it can be difficult to slow down and acknowledge the signs that something might be . . . off. Instead of turning toward the potential problem, sometimes we ignore it, hoping the nagging feeling will go away. But problems don’t disappear when we don’t give them our attention. They snowball— sometimes into extreme proportions—before they can’t be ignored any longer. 14
