In high school I had a friend named Erin. She was smart, athletic, talented, beautiful, and never seemed to have the same teenage insecurities I felt I had. I admired her and wanted to be like her. She had very curly red hair that always looked great. One day she came to school with it cut very short and I told her how much I loved it and added, “I wish I could cut my hair short.”
“You can,” she said.