I'm Collecting Different Versions of Myself

I used to think growing up meant becoming one person. Turns out, it just means collecting more of them. I can still picture every version of myself if I try hard enough. The girl who collected Pokémon cards. The girl who forced her parents to buy her gymnastics equipment, even though she could barely do a cartwheel. The girl who created a Twitch account to stream games she rarely played. For a while, I thought becoming an adult meant leaving those girls behind. Almost as if growing up meant replacing who you used to be with someone "better." Everyone talks about striving to be the best version of yourself. But what if growing up isn't about replacing who you were? What if it's about making room for every version you've ever been? All of those girls deserve more credit. Every one of them taught me something. Every obsession, every embarrassing phase, every wrong turn, every victory big or small- they all built the person I am today. I don't want to erase those girls. I want to keep collecting them. It's easy to think they are all different people, but they aren't. They are all just me. The same girl who gets way too attached to fictional characters. The same girl who spends hours making the perfect playlist. The same girl who loves to read her favorite books over and over again. Sometimes there are changes—clothes change. Dreams change. People around me change. Even my views change. But underneath it all, I'm still the same girl. I'm just growing into myself instead of away from myself. Maybe that is what growing up really is. Not becoming someone new, but meeting the parts of yourself that have been waiting to meet you, too.