I Am...ME

I am...

the "big sister," the leader of my two younger siblings, wishing I had someone to guide me instead.

a daughter of two overbearing parents who love to much and ask too much and set unreachable standards, but love nonetheless, and most importantly, a daughter of God.

entirely too innocent for my age, a little girl trapped in a teenager's body, never losing the desire to dream and explore, and often trying to escape the responsibilities and pressures of adulthood because if I had the choice, I would never grow up.

a friend to all who cross my path, passing out love in the hope that I will receive some in return just so I can give it away again.

a homeless soul, because home is where the heart is and my heart hasn't quite decided where it is supposed to be.

I am...

jazz shoes and spankies, finding solace in the leaps and turns of my routine, dancing across the stage and through life in the same way.

sweet tea consumed as though it was water, a vegetarian whose diet consists mainly of fruit and nachos.

acoustic and indie music, strumming along on my guitar, chilling out and forgetting the world, but also Broadway show tunes, belting at the top of my lungs and not caring if the entire neighborhood can hear me.

a night owl, staying up sometimes until the sun wakes up with me, grasping at the ideas that others share with me in their dreams.

independent, often wishing I had help but too scared to ask for it.

someone I am not when I step onto the stage, forgetting the troubles of life and absorbing a new personality, one that I can control within the confines of a script.

grandma's spiced tea and vitamin C drops, the actor's cure, an old blanket and a new book on cold winter afternoons.

I am...

bright blue eyes and pale skin that makeup cannot cover, a proud Irish girl, trimmed fingernails and freckled limbs.

short, and constantly reminded of it.

summertime, ignoring my sensitivity to the sun and inhaling the scents of nature, building campfires, singing songs and making s'mores with my Girl Scout friends, living in a world where boys and bullies don't exist.

headbands across my forehead, mismatched patterns, colored jeans and black shirts, bows and ribbons, hipster with an ever-changing style.

marching to the beat of my own drum, secretly absorbing what the world thinks of me and pretending not to care, a crazy, conflicted mess of a girl.

unexplainable and insecure as I step toward the future.