Lena Dunham is trying to quit 'sorry'

Lena Dunham is not sorry.

Or, at least, she's trying not to be. The actor/writer/producer/director penned an essay for LinkedIn about her "apology addiction," aka the gut-need to say "I'm sorry" to diffuse a situation.

"I say sorry all day, which doesn't make sense considering I'm not a warlord, a drunk driver, or a pizza delivery guy speeding down 6th Avenue on a fixed gear bike scaring the (expletive) out of pedestrians," she writes. "I am a woman who is sometimes right, sometimes wrong but somehow always sorry."

Dunham explained that taking the mantle of "The Boss" on her HBO show Girls has heightened her awareness of this.

"This has never been more clear to me than in the six years since I became a boss. It's hard for many of us to own our power, but as a 24-year-old woman (girl, gal, whatever I was) I felt an acute and dangerous mix of total confidence and the worst imposter syndrome imaginable. ... If I changed my mind, if someone disagreed with me, even if someone else misheard me or made a mistake... I was so, so sorry. 'If you say sorry again, I'm going to lovingly murder you,' (Girls showrunner Jenni Konner) texted during a meeting. 'I'm sorry,' I texted back."

Dunham went on to explain that it was a challenge from her father to go a week without using the phrase that made her really think about it, and how it can be damaging to relationships, both personal and workplace. Inevitably saying what she really meant was a much better strategy for her.

"I won't say my father's experiment cured me," she conclude in the essay. "But it illustrated a better way. Something to strive for. When I replaced apologies with more fully formed and honest sentiments, a world of communication possibilities opened up to me. I'm just sorry it took me so long."

You can read the full post here.