Why I built this

On paper, I had the life people picture. I was a consultant in New York, in a Midtown apartment five minutes from the office and five minutes from Equinox.

And I broke. I was living a life that no longer felt like mine. It showed up in my body: breakouts, and a patch of redness in my eye that no ophthalmologist could explain. I can't prove it, but I believe I was holding in everything I couldn't process or say.

I thought about therapy. But as a South Asian, I grew up around the stigma, and I wanted to find a way through on my own.

Then I started writing, and I didn't stop. It was how I finally worked out what I was feeling. I realized I was still thinking about things that happened years ago. I hadn't let them go, and I was carrying all of those emotions and burdens with me, which made every day heavier. Once I started writing, I started processing them, and I felt lighter.

Some days, writing helps me understand myself better. Other days it helps me process what happened, and either let it go or keep it as a lesson about my boundaries and what I'll allow. I wrote a book, Beyond the Model, about being conditioned one way as a child and wanting to tap into my creative side. The best way I know to do that is to express yourself, and to write whatever comes to mind.

I moved home to be near my family, and that is where I built The Daily Whisper. The techniques behind it are the ones that helped me, and I want to share them with anyone who doesn't feel like themselves and is ready to come back to themselves. It's made simple enough to do every day. One question on WhatsApp, in a private place where the risk is low and the cost is too. WhatsApp is something I use every day, and that takes away one more barrier.

I built it for the person I picture at 11pm, tired from the day, asking what good they've done, what their purpose is, and who they are if every day is clockwork.

Megha