Less "Universal Truth," More "My Truth"

I don't like boxes and I don't like labels, but I know everyone else does. 

I thought I was okay with the label, "girl." I did. 

Until I continued to feel smaller; caged-in; confined,

And it wasn't anyone's fault but mine. 

I tend to go to extremes, so my first thought was,

"Okay, I must be a boy."

That felt like a start, but those around me were confused. 

Plan B went like this:

"Maybe I'm both: a boy and a girl."

This went better, sort of. 

People still didn't get it. 

That's when I realised the real matter.

It's not them who need to know exactly who I am;

It's me who needs to know it's okay. 

I wanted so badly to change the world's thoughts on gender,

and get people to immediately see me the way I thought I should be seen,

But as soon as I decided to let go of my grip on "fixing" what the world should see, 

I was okay. 

Funny, we use the phrase "glow-up",

That is exactly how my counselor described me after this realisation:

She said "You're glowing."