The Wish to Be Seen 👀 Without Shame

Have you ever wanted someone to speak about you with pride —

not obligation, not guilt, not filtered to sound more “acceptable”?

Not the version of you that ticks the boxes,

but the real you — heart, quirks, dreams and all 💫

👀 The Pain of Being Dimmed

It can happen so quietly.

Your parents praise someone else’s child —

the one with the medals, the stable job, the predictable path.

Their voice lifts with excitement when they describe their hobbies or promotions.

But when it comes to you?

They glance away. Their tone shifts.

You become “the one who’s still figuring things out.”

They avoid talking about your work, your art, your choices —

not because you’re failing,

but because they don’t quite know how to explain you 😶‍🌫️

And that stings more than you care to admit.

🔁 You Start Editing Yourself Too

When others shrink around your truth, you slowly start shrinking too:

• You soften your voice to sound agreeable.

• You nod when you actually want to say something else.

• You chase a version of success you don’t even want —

  just to make conversations easier.

Over time, it doesn’t feel like you’re being unseen.

It feels like you’re disappearing.

🕯 A New Kind of Longing

At some point, something inside you whispers:

“I don’t want to be impressive. I want to be understood.”

You don’t want applause.

You want authenticity.

You want to hold someone’s hand in the sun without shame,

and have no part of you feel like it needs to hide ☀️🤝

This is not rebellion.

This is belonging — starting with yourself.

💭 Pause for a Moment

What if your way of being was never the problem —

but someone else’s limitation in understanding you was?

What if you’ve been whole this entire time —

just wrapped in layers of translation, hoping to fit?

What if your life didn’t need explaining…

to be valid, beautiful, and worthy of pride? 🌱

🧭 A Small Return to Self

Here’s something to try this week:

Say one thing about yourself —

something true, something unfiltered —

without shrinking, softening, or over-explaining 😌

Not for validation.

But for freedom 🔓

Because the shame was never yours to carry.

And the more you live without it,

the more space you make for others to do the same.