if I ever get married...

If I ever decide to get married, my life partner better be okay with hanging all of our laundry on a line outside, hearing me sing loudly--no, at the top of my lungs--while I do the dishes (I mean, really, I learned it from my dad), with long walks late at night, with hysterical laughter and the full body spasms (and dance moves) that accompany it, with tears of both deep joy and deep sadness, with feistiness and sass, with passionate arguments and even more passionate expressions of love, with my undeniable need to write, with a room in our (teeny) house dedicated to yoga and all that which stems from it, with my need to cook in the middle of the afternoon while jamming to fantastic music just 'cause I fucking feel like it, with the fact that I bake for people just to show them how much I love them, with my--at times overwhelming--intensity, with my openness, with my need to be independent, with the fact that I doubt I will change my name, with travel and with exploration, with my tender-heartedness and the passion it brings for sometimes seemingly everything under the sun, with my obsession with freedom and with child-like, almost-naive honesty and authenticity, with my utter refusal to be jaded or cynical no matter how bad things sometimes appear, with my crazy, unpredictable spiritual journey, with my moments of reclusive thoughtfulness, with my outbursts--all of them!--with my willingness to give my life to something greater than myself, my family or even my capacity to envision, with my profoundly deep desire to be a mother, but to maintain my self and my individuality in doing so, with my dreams, with my love of risks--only when they hold the opportunity to realize those dreams or to become a more authentic version of myself, with my weakness, with my darkness, with my struggles, with my past... and my present... and my future, with my endless drive to--above all else--live each and every day of my life as no one but my most genuine self and to grow into an ever-more-loving individual who can better serve the world around her.

These are my requirements. I just thought you should know.

--mt.