When I think of love most often, I don’t think about any boy from my past.
I think of the girls in my study abroad group who held my hair back in random dingy London bathrooms. I think about my friend who is still one of the only people to see me cry and clears her day to keep me company without a second thought. I think about my roommate who notices my lip slightly quiver when I try to hold tears back. . I think about the girl in high school who hurt my feelings and pulled me in for a hug immediately once she realized. I think about the way girls in dim-lit bar bathrooms tell me they like my hair or think my outfit is so cute.Â
To me, the purest form of love comes from the girls in my life. When I have felt the most emotion in my life, it’s been from my friendships with women. To be shown the amount of consideration, kindness and comfortability that comes with knowing someone fully has only ever been in friendships with women for me.
I don’t write this to talk badly about the men in my life because I think they’re lesser than or I value them as much as I do women. I think they’re kind, generous and incredibly giving.Â
But if I’m being honest, there’s something different about constructing a social circle that’s mostly girls.Â
Something that’s too hard to describe in a way that feels honest.Â
The women I know are tooth-achingly sweet, beyond forgiving, graceful, and all-knowing. I don’t know how else to describe and emphasize the importance of all the girls I know — whether through a surface-level relationship or a friendship spanning 15 years. Girls I no longer know are ones I still think about every once in a while because they make that much of an impact on me.Â
There’s a sense of community and camaraderie that is ingrained in every girl, whether she recognizes it or not. That sense connects us all and lets us bond on some level that’s ineffableIt shows how monumental it is to be a girl in every way. And I love it.