When I saw that photo later, my stomach dropped. The girl I saw didn’t look like the one I felt like these past couple of months. And since then, it’s been hard not to replay that moment in my head, wondering if the confidence I felt was all in my imagination.

She was 33, the kind of woman who always remembered your birthday, showed up with snacks for the group chat link-up, and kept bobby pins in her bag just in case someone’s curls needed saving.

Sometimes, the safest thing you can do is pause. Not everyone deserves your “yes.”Not every space is meant to hold your softness.Not...

You know that feeling when you finally land after a long flight and the pilot’s voice comes over the intercom saying, “Welcome. You’ve arrived safely”? That’s the feeling a safe love should give you.