Independence.

I'm growing. Not in the traditional height sense, since I'm 5'5'' and I will probably always be that height, if not shorter. For the past six months, I've been on my own a lot and have had to learn how to fend for myself and cope with being alone. Relationships can get like security blankets after awhile, you hold on to them for something tangible in your arms, without realizing that you can walk this runway with your head held high and your hands blankey free. You get so used to having something that even the smallest task seems like an obstacle, but when you accomplish it, you've freed yourself just a little bit more. And every small task adds up.

I'm at that age now where "grown up" things like relationships and careers are not just a hypothetical "what if" that seems far off and distant, but rather where these things are looming over my shoulders like a creeping shadow. I know childhood friends who are getting married. Or who have kids. Or who have accomplished what seems to be a lot more than I have. Then again, maybe you can't use other people's lives and accomplishments as a measuring stick to your own. Your life is in the context of only itself, and nothing else.