I wore the dress without apologising for my body inside it

Dear Delyara, I nearly changed three times. Too soft here. Too tired-looking there. Too old. Too visible. Too much. Too little. The usual courtroom language came up the minute I stood in front of the mirror. And for once, I did not obey it. I wore the dress. Not because I suddenly loved everything I saw. Because I was tired of acting as if my body had to earn the right to appear in public without an internal apology attached to it. I am tired of women shrinking themselves before the room has even had a chance to receive them. I went. I stood normally. I let myself take up the space my body already occupied. That felt far bigger than clothes.