This Pride Month feels a little different.
For most of my life, I thought I understood who I was. Then life happened.
I traveled. I loved. I learned. I broke. I healed.
And somewhere along that winding path, I realized that my experience with attraction, love, and connection didn't always look the way the world said it should.
Today, I find peace in identifying somewhere within the demi/ace spectrum.
Not because I have all the answers, but because I finally stopped trying to fit myself into boxes that never felt quite right.
I have learned that attraction, for me, is deeply tied to trust, emotional connection, intellectual connection, and safety. It is not something given freely or quickly. It is earned through consistency, honesty, patience, and understanding.
I am a woman who adores women. I am a mother. I am a writer. I am a dreamer. I am all of those things at once.
Having my daughter taught me something I never expected: what unconditional love feels like. It humbled me. It challenged me. It changed me forever.
Life is like a river. It flows forward. It changes shape. It carves new paths. It never stays in one place, and neither have I.
And I no longer feel the need to apologize for that.
Perhaps that's why I resonate so strongly with snow leopards and great horned owls—creatures that move quietly through the world, observant, independent, and comfortable in their own company.
To everyone still discovering themselves: there is no deadline. There is no race.
Your journey belongs to you.