One is rated by others as he rates himself.

Gosh darn it I love this link-up!

I missed last week because of a ridiculously full schedule, but I'm happy to be able to participate this week.

Disclaimer: This may or may not end up making much sense. I have written and re-written and then wrote again what is below. Tonight is one of those nights when you know what you want to say but can't get your brain to get it together enough to form a relatively coherent paragraph. I'm blaming it on Tigers baseball.

I've spent a large majority of my life trying to figure out how to "fix" or "change" myself. Even though I've always liked myself, I still felt like I needed change because I never quite fit into the mold that friends, family, society had set out for me. I've always been a "color outside of the box and hope no one gets mad at me" kind of girl. Ridiculous, right?

I think I said it before, but I've never felt such a huge sense of freedom like this before. I've never felt like I could participate in a community where all you needed to be was yourself. Participating in this project/link-up has made me see myself in such a different light. It's hard to believe sometimes that I've not always had such a strong sense of self. It's hard to believe that I always thought I would be better off if I could "just be" like everyone else wanted me to be.


But that's not who I am. I wasn't meant to fit into any sort of mold. I'm not sure who exactly the mold was made for, but it sure as hell wasn't this girl.

As I continue to grow as a person, learn more about how strong I am and love who I am and am becoming, I am embracing each step with everything I've got.