06/24/2026
I grew up learning that my words were fragile things, easy for others to ignore, easy for them to twist.
People laughed, talked over me,
told me who I was supposed to be
before I ever had the chance to speak it myself.
And it carried into my adulthood,
that quiet ache of being dismissed,
of watching others twist my truth into their own stories, of feeling small in rooms that never made space for me.
I became the echo of their laughter,
until I learned that silence could be strength too.
Even then, I kept listening to the part of me
that refused to fade.
The part that knew what I felt was real,
what I lived was real,
what I survived was real.
I learned to trust my own voice
more than the noise around me.
I learned that truth doesn't need permission to exist.
And now, I stand in the fullness of who I am,
no longer shrinking,
no longer apologizing,
no longer letting anyone else decide
what my story should mean.