She looks like me

 She looks like me

The same eyes
The same stubborn spark
The same quiet strength

But when I really see her
I know she’s more than a reflection
She is everything I dreamed of being
When I was her age

She speaks her mind without fear
She feels deeply and doesn’t apologize for it
She dances like no one is watching
And loves like she’s never been hurt

She doesn’t shrink herself to fit into someone else’s idea of who she should be
She doesn’t make herself small to be liked
She stands tall in rooms I used to fold myself in

And in her
I see the version of me
Who was never told to sit still or stay quiet

Watching her grow
Feels like rewriting my own story
Like handing my younger self the freedom she never had
To laugh loud
To take up space
To be messy
And magical
And whole

She is living proof that we can raise girls
Who are both soft and fierce
Who lead with their hearts
And never feel like that’s something they need to hide

She is strength
She is magic
She is the reminder that I was always enough
Even when I didn’t believe it

She is my daughter
And every single day
She shows me what it means to be free
And full of light