"Women have minds and souls as well as just hearts,
and they've got ambition and talent as well as just beauty.
And I'm sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.
I'm so sick of it! But – I'm so lonely!"
- Jo March (Little Women)
My favourite fairytale growing up was Cinderella. When I was young, I had always been that invisible, quiet girl. So I fell in love with the idea of love and finding prince charming who made me feel seen and feel like the most special girl in the world. And I grew up trying to become that perfect girl worthy of a prince charming and invested time and care and thought into my looks, my intellect, my morals. Becoming 'perfect'. Fantasising the moment I would meet 'the one', romanticising it all. But at 18, my family showed me that 'love' could kill you and at 19, my first relationship made me realise a relationship alone cannot keep you fulfilled for the rest of your life.
So then I started to invest in myself for myself. I wanted more in life than just 'the love of my life'. I wanted control of it. I wanted financial stability and freedom. I wanted self sustainability and independence. But despite it all, I still believed in love and in starting my own family one day with a husband by my side. Fast forward 8 years and here I am with two relatively successful businesses while working a well-paying full-time job as a lawyer and in a 5 and a half year long-term relationship with someone I instantly felt like I knew all my life when we first connected (and now building a house together). Life seems good. I am lucky and I should be grateful. And I was. For some time...
