The Proposal

by Jasmine Guillory

I’m not saying that you’re perfect, but who is? It’s okay to not react perfectly all the time; it’s okay to say no to people; it’s okay even to not love someone back.”

“As my mother would say, it’s nice to want things.”

Good God, sometimes it felt like all of society was complicit in trying to make life harder for women.

My marriage sapped me of a lot of my strength, and what made it worse were

the constant messages I got from society that women are weak, women should be afraid, women should settle for whatever they can get.

Once I learned to trust myself, my instincts, and my emotions, trusting other people was a lot easier.”