“They’re never going to like
me.” I wrote this the summer before my freshman year of college. I wrote it
definitively in the strong strokes of a ballpoint pen, after a summer of
chasing the dream of dating.
He had been interested for a
while, it seemed. In between the haze of July and the fear of starting college
in the fall, we’d had coffee once or twice. We’d kissed on a bench looking out
over the ocean – right there, he had put his hands on my cheekbones and kissed
me. We weren’t dating, but I was sure it would become something. That it had to become something.
He disappeared. Texts went unanswered;
the facebook message thread faded, and then was deleted. The summer dissolved,
and I started school with the words, “they’re never going to like me.”
And that voice was followed
by this chaotic hurricane of reasons: I must not be pretty enough, skinny
enough, sweet enough, funny enough. I’m too young, not young enough, too
intense, too light-hearted, too poetic, and not poetic enough… I contradicted
myself two or three times over while I made that list. I inked a wall around my
heart.
To keep reading, click on over here.
Love,
Hilary
(photo: mandie sodoma, sindisiwe photography) |
Oh, Hilary!!! This is beautiful and extremely encouraging.
ReplyDeleteI read the whole thing and then came back over here to leave you a little comment.
Thank you for sharing. I'm encouraged by your words and your heart.