I'd like to think that I am small and dainty and delicate, like all things you describe a girl. I'd like to make someone feel that I need them as much as they need me, like the sun to trees, or the sea to fish. But I am neither small nor dainty nor delicate. I cannot be described as lightweight or innocent. I know now that I am a woman, strong and powerful and a force to be reckoned with. That I can fight for things that cannot be won, and still feel victorious. That I can be faithful to what I consider true to a fault. That if I channel much of what I am into something, I will be a blinding light, swallowing everything in my way. That needing doesn't necessarily mean needing someone helplessly so. That needing can be quiet and undemanding and fervent at the same time.

Now I know that the heart I wear on my sleeve is battered and worn, but still wildly beating, against all odds.