On Thursday, July 7, my best friend Kim and I got matching “GRL PWR” tattoos. It was a spontaneous decision -- which made it that much greater. On that afternoon, we drove to downtown Portland together and headed to the Jackalope Tattoo Shop.

Soon we would be marked for life with possibly one of the most powerful statements. Girl Power. You don’t need to be a die-hard feminist to appreciate these two simple words. I’ve always been an advocate for women’s rights and equality, but this statement means even more than that to me.

Girl power represents the simple ability women everywhere have to love themselves and others around them. Anyone who has a great group of girlfriends knows they’ll always have your back. A tight group of girls is unstoppable. Did your man hurt you? They’ll hunt him down. Is someone talking about you behind your back? They’ll plan revenge.

Girls are powerful.

Women aren’t just intimidating in packs, but individually. Once we learn to love ourselves, there’s truly nothing else that matters or that can stop us. This is something that has become very relevant in my life as I’ve recently become single.

When I was in a relationship, I felt a lot more pressure to bend and break parts of myself. Being young in love is rough because you want to do everything you possibly can to make the other person happy. Not saying that relationships at my age are bad, but I certainly began to love myself less in the process of loving someone else.

This is when I realized I could not truly be happy unless I learned how to be independent again. Independence was always a strong quality of mine, and I craved to get it back. Waking up each morning, putting a smile on my face, and loving myself made me happy.

My girlfriends played a big role in this of course. They had my back. Each one of them made me laugh uncontrollably. They were there no matter what.

Girl. Power.

I hope that every woman can look herself in the mirror and love herself. I hope that each one of us has a group of girlfriends who help us throughout the bumps in life. Because when girls come together, we are unstoppable.

Lift each other up.

This is why the words “GRL PWR” tatted on my ankle will forever be relevant and significant. Having confidence and loving yourself is powerful. It is possibly the best thing you could do for yourself.

I hope many more girls join this GRL PWR movement. Hell, get the tattoo with your best friends. Because there’s truly nothing stronger than girl power.