I put walls up because my insecurities were growing in my heart like weeds in a garden. I grew my garden walls high because I was afraid of failing. I was afraid of being myself, because I was afraid of rejection. I was afraid of others hurting me because of the two people who used me in ways you couldn’t imagine. So, I decided to keep everyone in my life at arms length. In the end, those walls ended up enclosing me, alone, in a garden. My garden has four walls and a ceiling so no one can penetrate or climb into it. Yet, the walls and ceiling keep the water and sun out. The flowers began wilting, and the food began rotting. The animals that kept me company died, and the beauty that was there became nothing more then a figment of what was. The memories of joy and sunshine ended up obliterating themselves. The walls that were supposed to protect my garden, ended up being the thing that harmed me the most. Now I am scratching at them with my nails, trying to tear them down. However, tearing down a brick wall with nails is so much harder then it seems. I have been in my garden so long, I forget how to be expressive through words. I’m suffocating in my own garden. My heart is my secret garden, and I have built my walls high.