He sat in the passenger seat of my car surrounded by blinding snow covered trees, as I explained to him how I truly felt about my friend Liz. As I spoke, I realized that he was the first person to hear how deeply I hold my bond with her. I guess I’ve never thought to say it to anyone before that moment there with him.

I tell everyone how much we are alike, and that she holds the power to get me as close to my desired end as possible, because she is one of the very few who understand why. What I don’t say to anyone, however, is that she had planted a seed in me over a decade ago.

When we met, I was young, in our early twenties. She shined like a beacon of light among the grey and dreadful expectations of human made noise, and I was drawn towards it like a moth to a flame. She shared my childlike wonder at nature, and the idea that we are only animals, same as the woodchuck burrowed under your deck.

She awoke something in me that had felt dead and buried, my sense of self. I had become lost in my role, attachments to the prison of judgement. She showed me it was okay to be unapologetic in your truth. Image is just another construct, and when you stay genuine, you will always find your people. And your people will always find you.

She pulled my spirit from a hole that it had fallen into for so long. As the years went on the seed she had planted sprouted and grew into a forest of yearning to break free and finally become who I wish to be. It may sound dramatic, but I truly believe she saved my life. Not just my life, my soul, my entire being.

Sometimes we wander through life free floating down someone else’s river, only to drown in it. It takes a true soul to see you drowning and pull you out.