The Princess We Grew Up Believing In

There is something I have been wanting to tell you for a long time.

Sometimes I wish for small things. I want to ask, and you bring me sweets because I love them. I want to say I like flowers, and you gently tuck them into my hair. I have always loved bangles — even though I have never really worn them. I’ve only watched other women wear them. Sometimes I imagine saying it, and you sliding them onto my wrists.

But then a question quietly stays in my heart:

Why does it always have to begin with me asking?

Why can’t you understand without me saying it? Without me demanding it? Without me explaining it?

It’s not that I don’t love you. It’s not that I depend on you for these things. If I want to, I can buy all of this myself. None of these things are even that expensive. I can buy my own sweets, my own flowers, my own bangles.

But that’s not the point.

The point is this — if you gave me these things without me asking, if you surprised me with them as a gift, I would feel happier. Not because of the money. Not because of the things themselves. But because I would feel how deeply you understand me. I would feel that you notice me. That you think about what I like.

I don’t want grand gestures. I don’t want luxury. I just want intention. I want effort. I want to feel that you see me — even in the smallest details.

There are people who understand without being told. Who make their partner feel special without them having to ask for it. I want to feel that too. I want to feel special with you.

Maybe this desire began long ago — in childhood. We grow up listening to stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. We grow up imagining that one day a prince will come — someone who will understand our unspoken wishes, someone who will love us in ways that feel magical.

As we grow older, we know life is not a fairy tale. We become practical. We stop expecting too much.

And yet…

Somewhere inside, that little girl still hopes. She still wants to be treated like a princess sometimes. She still wants to be understood without having to explain everything.

This is not about material things.
It is about feeling chosen.
It is about feeling seen.
It is about feeling understood by you — without always having to ask.

And maybe what I really want to say is simple:

I don’t just want things.
I want to feel that you know me.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.