And she only sleeps when it's raining.

Streching upwards, every branch straining to the sun.
Curled in this foliage, I can't help but think of you.
The brushed red of the bark, the green of the leaves,
The songbirds that seem to overwhelm the air.
The wind that rushes in is pleasant,
But even it makes me no lighter than your smile.
And despite the steady limbs that hold me,
It can never begin to compare to your arms.
I run my fingertips across the maple's texture.
It alternates under my touch, rough to smooth.
It would seem that this trait too, you share.
And as if a child proclaiming their name,
You have carved yourself into my heart -
Not even Time himself could steal you away.

She swears the moon don't hang quite as high as it used to.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, goregeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

I know, I know, it's really long. But I can't imagine omitting part of it, not to really get the full feeling of the text. I didn't live by this for the longest time. I did hide myself away in the shadows for a long time. But I overcame it and I'm pushing onwards.

In a color portrait world, she believes that she's got it all.

Ah, I'm old now. I'm knowledgeable, I'm wise, I'm intelligent. ... Right. If everyone says so, I'll believe it, but I think I can find enough people to contradict that fact that it's likely not true. BUT I have learned a few things along the way, that much I'm certain of. And honestly, the most important thing I learned should really be common sense. Do not let people walk all over you. I don't care who it is. I really don't. If they are abusing you and, in turn, changing who you are, put a stop to it. This doesn't always mean you have to cut whoever it is away completely. But it does mean that you have to know how to exercise your own self-confidence. And that's a hard thing to generate at an appropriate level. Most of the time, people either have too much or too little. And I'm hardly going to claim to have complete mastery over mine. Heck no. I'm still learning. I still struggle every day against people who underestimate me, or knowing my place. It's a hard thing to do. But it's something that's neccessary to be successful.