“A Middle-Class Girl’s Dream of Freedom” I don’t want to wear crowns or win applause just to feel worthy. I don’t want to spend my whole life chasing permission to live the way I dream. Freedom, to me, isn’t about rebellion. It’s about being allowed to just be. To breathe without guilt, To speak without shaking, To choose without justifying. When I become a mother, I won’t wait for my child to do something extraordinary to say, > “I’m proud of you.” No, I will say it simply because they exist — because they are them. That’s enough. Because I know what it feels like to beg for love, To earn every hug, every kind word, like it’s a reward. I won’t pass that pain on. I’ve seen this world — Everyone’s a parent, but few know their own children. Everyone claims love, but they forgot its meaning — Love, without conditions. Without performances. Without “only if.” I refuse to become like them. I don’t want to just survive this life. I want to look at myself and feel full. Not because of achievements, not because others clap for me — But because I kept going. I am proud of myself — Not someday, not later — Every single day. Because even when nothing works out, I choose to breathe, To wake up, To love, To hope. And if that isn’t something to be proud of, I don’t know what is. 🫶