Ask Polly

Ask Polly

‘I Just Need a Mother!’

Instead of feeling ashamed of your loneliness and longing, you need to learn to give yourself exactly what you need.

Heather Havrilesky
Dec 16, 2025
∙ Paid
The Suffering of Sappho (1952), Jane Graverol

Hey Polly,

Long time reader, sometimes writer. I appreciate that your letters have always given me a space for my neurotic little pigeon brain to reflect on what makes me so spiky, interesting, and ultimately loved. Just today I was on a calm-down walk thinking to myself “Don’t let the pigeon ride the bus!” It…

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