Not too many people care to share the personal and often painful journey of living with unmanageable debt and seeking bankruptcy protection, but I am happy to have found this one to be able to share.

From today's New York Times Magazine:

In late 2002, after five years of negotiating these calls, and of imagining that I'd somehow conquer my debt, I acknowledged it would never really happen. I filed for bankruptcy to free myself of around $20,000 of debt. It felt good. I was full of relief and gratitude for the chance to start again. I did not feel the guilt I feared I would. And I came to love the sound of no phone ringing, of not having to lie and say [that I] was somewhere else.