ESSAY NO. 2 | The Women We Were Before We Became Useful

There is a particular kind of freedom in watching a little girl love something before she learns to explain why it matters. She draws horses badly and hangs them on the refrigerator. She collects rocks that have no monetary value. She changes clothes four times because each outfit belongs to a different imaginary world. She sings before anyone tells her whether she has a good voice. She dances before she knows what her body looks like from across the room. She writes stories before anyone asks who would publish them. She makes things because making them delights her. She wants things because wanting them is enough. Then, somewhere between girlhood and womanhood, usefulness enters the room.