“To the Woman I Keep Becoming”

Dear me,

You don’t owe them

a version of yourself

they can digest.

You were never meant

to be small,

pliable,

or palatable.

You were meant

to take up space

like you were born to—

because you were.

I know you’ve said yes

to things that felt like no.

I know you’ve apologized

for your own brilliance.

I know you’ve dimmed your light

so others wouldn’t flinch.

And still—

you are rising.

You are allowed to change.

To unlearn.

To shed skin

and not explain the mess.

You are allowed to be soft

without being weak.

Fierce

without being cruel.

Whole

without being finished.

You are not behind.

You are not broken.

You are not too much.

You are a woman

learning to love herself

in a world that profits

off her not doing so.

That is sacred work.

So wear what you want.

Speak how you feel.

Grieve when you must.

Rest when you need.

Forgive yourself—

not because they tell you to,

but because you’ve earned it.

And remember:

You don’t need to be liked

to be free.

You just need

to belong to yourself.

With love,

from every version

of you that fought

to get here.