I've been told that I'm good with words. Whether you think so or not is irrelevant because I am, to be honest. I've been writing for a long time and spent just as long curating my style and work. So when people question the things I say, I get really frustrated because even my most brazen statements are well thought out and honest. I say the words that I mean and nothing less. Words are powerful, but the conviction we put behind them means so much more and tie the beautiful words into something that your heart feels is the rawest form of honesty I have ever known. Words mean more to me than the things they are saying, so when I say my best friends are all beautiful, I mean it.

I say that every gal pal of mine is beautiful. Not pretty. Not cute. My friends are BEAUTIFUL. I'm sorry that the overused and exhausted word "beauty" is the only one I have for them. They are brave, they are intelligent, they are unapologetic in who they are, they are kind, and they have made me a better woman. My friends are also scared, they are nervous, they are loud and sometimes rude, they get hurt and they hurt others and they are unsure. But only when you know everything about someone can you declare to those around you that they are beautiful. I am lucky to have many people that I know to be beautiful and I am exhausted by the idea that it is something that shouldn't be said often, for fear of stealing its meaning with common place.

I don't say things to make people feel better. Actually, a lot of people would say just the opposite about me sometimes. If I have ever comforted you or hurt you, it has been with words of my honesty. I say that my friends are beautiful because they are- not because they need to hear it, or you do, or I need to justify whatever shitty thing I've done today by talking up someone else. You shouldn't stop saying things that you mean because other people think it's said too much to be genuine.

A recent popular opinion is that the word "love" gets thrown around too much as well. I know nothing of being in love but I know words and sometimes "love" is the one I need. I ~love~ my friends. I ~love~ a good casserole. I ~love~ a lot of things and mean it just as much as someone who only says it once a month, or only to the love of their life.

My friends are beautiful. Yours are too. Tell them. Words mean nothing more than the feeling you put behind them and I feel like we should say a lot more.