The world will tell you to choose. Be this OR that. And the world may also tell you to limit that of which you choose. Don’t be too much this or too much that. . But you don’t have to listen. . One can be soft •and• strong. Fierce •and• feeling. Vulnerable •and• powerful. . There is magic in the ‘and’. There is truth. And there is, you. . The voices and ideas of others need not limit you. They do not have the power to put you in a box of their choosing, unless you let them. . I let them. For far too long. For years, and years. I bended and molded. I made myself small and quiet. I did what I thought would make me more loved, more accepted, and more visible. . And in reality all it did was make me, unreal. And invisible - to myself. At the end of it all, what was I left with? Certainly not more love. And ultimately, I wasn’t even left with myself, because I’d lost myself along the way. . This picture is one in which I see strength. But it’s one in which I also see softness. Because I kno...