Self-esteem advice: I feel ugly and cringey. What do I do?

is Slate’s new advice column on addiction, recovery, and how to hate yourself less. Due to what we now know is a quirk of how my brain works, I struggle with “fake it till you make it”–type things, like pretending that I don’t think I’m ugly or a crap, boring person. I could say things like “I had an op-ed published in the New York Times” or “I did an awesome article about betting on the bird flu for Salon.com” or “I was the top page-view leader this month thanks to a video I posted of a man getting hit in the crotch with a football.” But now, even though I write a recovery newsletter and talk about recovery on a podcast, on some occasions I’ve told people I now work in the “mental health space,” a statement that, although somewhat true, is mostly a lie. For the love of God, don’t rush into a 20-minute or even a two-minute meditation practice—let’s start with one merciful minute and stick to it. Participate in food drives for homelessness, protest against world events that are cruel and inhumane, run a 5K for ALS—find something where you need to show up, in person, with humility and selflessness to become part of what I’m going to lazily refer to as “the greater good.” Because I can guarantee that when you aim to restore the dignity of others, you’ll restore dignity in yourself.