I drive to school every

I drive to school every morning, tired and weighed down by the stress of life. 

I feel the gas pedal and my power to push it, to propel the vehicle to the maximum speed it could reach.

I could push it to the floor and fly through the bare streets of the small town I live in, but 

I don't. 

Why? 

For the many things that define me. For my anxiety to stay low, to see my mother after school, to taste the honeysuckle that grows by my house, to do the many things that make me who I am. 

I am strength and weakness, fear and hope, love and hatred, shy and outgoing. 

I am a juxtaposition. I am counterproductive. I am everything and nothing. 

I am human. 

These difference make up who we all are, it's not about who has what characteristic, but who has how much of each characteristic. 

I am outspoken. I believe strongly in a womans right to choose, in marriage equality, in the wrongness that lies in animal abuse. I am an activist. I will fight for what I believe in because how could I continue living in a life I know does not represent me. 

I am stubborn. "My stubborn ox", is what my mother calls me. Her girl who can't stop going once she starts. My weakness and strength lies in my ability to focus. My determination. If you push me, I will push back. 

I am anxious. I fear the little things and overthink common tasks. I find it difficult to breath sometimes and even harder to stand up out of bed. I am depressed. I am beaten down. 

I am loving. I fall to fall and run into things. I want to hold fragile things in my hand and whisper healing secrets to the hopeful. I want to be the mother holding the hand of anyone who needs it. My heart bleeds for love, but few can see it.