Lori Harder reflects on how close friendships have fostered her self-love and personal growth. She describes that having close friends lets her "stop" worrying about typical concerns, makes her feel more beautiful through being around women she likes, and has led her to a boundary: she will no longer chase friends or romantic partners who make her dislike herself—she must like who she is.
I feel like my friendships have been one of the biggest things that have helped me love who I am. It's almost like the more close friends that I have, the more I just stop. It's like I stop caring about the things I normally care about. They even make me feel more beautiful in a way that is not, like, specifically. Oh. I feel more beautiful because of them, but because I'm around more women who I like who I am around. I'm in a place in my life right now where I'm not gonna chase a friend or a girlfriend. And if I don't like who I am around you, I'm. I actually can't do it anymore because I have to like me. Like, I have to like who I am.
