the things we do not do

For my 21st birthday, I visited a small oceanside town a couple hours away from Rio de Janeiro. Walking alone back from the beach that night, the streets were dark and the sky was full of stars and I felt safe there.

I felt safe there. Woah. I didn't even know until that moment, that since arriving in Rio 4 months prior, I'd felt constantly unsafe.

It was the lack of danger that alerted me to the fact that it had existed all along.

On a related note, one of my besties from high school came over for dinner tonight.

Here's what I did not do:

• put on makeup
• do a deep clean of my house
• change into cute clothes
• tell her all the "cool" stuff I've been making or doing lately
• try to present myself as anyone other than me.

This girl loved me back when I had nothing except my soul and my words.

And I still have both of those! I still have me! And when I'm with her, there's nothing else I need to provide. Nothing I have to prove. No extra layers I have to smother on top of myself to be 'acceptable enough'.

It reminded me of that evening in that small town outside of Rio.