Anxy No. 3: The Boundaries Issue
How do our inner worlds define the lines we draw and the space we create?
Boundaries shape the way we live, love and work—but what do our boundaries say about who we are underneath? Our third issue looks at personal space from the inside out through intimate essays, revealing reported features, insightful interviews, gorgeous photography and more.
Here are some of the highlights.

INTERVIEWS
One-on-one conversations with creative people about mental health
Open Mike Eagle on Genre-Hopping
“I live in this constant anxious thought that everything is going to be taken away from me.”
Fabiola Jean-Louis on History
“I’m thinking about a scenario where life is respected. Where there is no slavery, there is no injustice, there’s none of these things that have happened to us.”
PERSONAL ESSAYS
A collection of reflective, intimate essays
Samantha Irby on Anxiety
“Hello 911? I’ve barricaded myself in the bedroom because the cleaning service came before I could think of a reason I needed to leave the house for an hour and forty-five minutes.”
Dayna Evans on Silence
“In choosing to share these secrets, my mother crossed another boundary, exposing private family matters to people who felt obligated to plead ignorance.”
Odalis García on Family
“By sticking together the way we did, we carried with us the Cuba my family was forced to leave behind. If we were together, then nothing could tear us apart.”
Alana Hope Levinson on Broken Homes
“I didn't think any sane person would want to live next to their ex.”
REPORTED FEATURES
Incisive, thoughtful reporting that gets to the core of the issues
Eric Reidy
“The government even refused to refer to people fleeing the Syrian war as 'refugees,' opting instead for euphemistic 'displaced people'—blurring the legal boundaries around their obligations.”
Floricel Liborio Ramos
“I don’t know where they had been hiding, but suddenly there were seven ICE officers, all in uniform.”
VISUAL STORIES
Compelling photo essays and illustration that bring boundaries to life
Paola de Grenet
“A neurologist once told us he was fascinated that she ‘presents as normal.’ So very close to what we all pass for, but in the end, her brain creates a boundary she cannot cross, a line that forks the path to the future.”
Jessica Chou
“For the younger generation, Paris By Night provides a sense of their history and the world their parents grew up in, even if some of the flashy costumes and Liberace-styled acts are occasionally met with an eye-roll.”
Gary Moskowitz
When I was a kid I was scared of barbers so my mom cut my hair. As I got older, I realized that barbers could actually be hair therapists. But they could also make things So. Much. Worse.”
Franziska Wittlede and Amazon Turk Workers
What happens when you ask random strangers to draw their boundaries?
Anxy No. 3: 188 pages of captivating, meticulously-crafted storytelling that will change your perspective.
Table of Contents
Please Stop Telling Me to Leave My Comfort Zone Panic! Danger! Doom! A House Divided Communication Breakdown Crossing the Line Know Your Limits When Physical Boundaries Get Emotional This Is What It’s Like When ICE Detains You |
What Our Mothers Don’t Share The Proximity Effect Open Mike Eagle Can’t Stop Breaking Boundaries I Want My Work to Exist in the Memories of People No Safe Havens From California to Saigon Presents as Normal Reasonable Restrictions |
Homelessness and First Times Crowd Control The Survival Kit The Barber Shop Hippocampus, Their Idea of Yours Lost in (Personal) Space Shelf Life Mental Health Resources Anxy in the World |