From the Editors:

This has been an exciting month for Cropped.

As we've grown a bit and gotten our sea legs, we've been so inspired by the feedback we've gotten, and we're thrilled about the many directions this site could go. That's almost our problem — too many ideas and only so much time to get them all rolling!

One thing we are happy about is the incredible stories in Issue 3. The contributors tackled some really tough issues — from grappling with an eating disorder to the death of a parent to a breakup, they were willing to share some of their most terrifying and sad moments.

Jenny McCoy's touching essay about working at Trader Joe's when she moved to New York sort of summed up what Cropped is all about. She described this period of life as "A collective feeling of 'I'm not OK-ness that, in the end, makes us OK.'"

Simply stating our insecurities and acknowledging them is helpful in and of itself.

But as Cropped grows, we'd love to offer some solutions and tips that help push us ALL in the right direction.

Here's one we've been thinking about this week.

We're probably all familiar with the general concept of putting out the type of energy we'd like to come back to us. Whether you call it "karma," "The Secret" or the frequently cited Gandhi quote, "Be the change you wish to see in the world," this idea is a familiar one.

It's even in the Bible, at Matthew 7:7: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

In practice, this can be tough. Of course we know we should ask for a raise, but looking our bosses in the eyes and doing it is scary. We want to make a new friend, but our minds race, and we talk ourselves out of asking them for coffee. Sometimes it's even too intimidating to ask for help, or for someone to just listen to us when we need it the most.

And yet how can we expect our wishes and dreams for ourselves to come true if we're not vocalizing and asking for them?

Some inspiration: Adele became famous after putting videos of herself singing on Myspace.

One of Marina's favorite podcast-ers, Jess Lively, has gotten to have conversations with her dream guests, including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert and researcher Brené Brown, simply because she asked them for an interview.

And on a (much) more attainable level, Maria got her current job when she asked her former boss to get coffee — even though she had to work up the courage to do it for weeks.

That's our challenge until next issue: What is something you want right now? And what's one small "ask" you can make to help you get there?

To that end, we'd love for you to help us with our goal — sharing Cropped with friends who might feel as passionately about it as we all do.

That's our ask: If you feel so inclined this month, we'd be truly touched if you can share Cropped however you feel comfortable.

We're going to do our part to share it, too.

Let's see where we all are in a month!

Until then,
Marina and Maria