I stumbled across a quote online that stopped me in my tracks:

“Who are you when you are not performing for the people inside your mind?”

It felt like a gentle but earth-shifting nudge — the kind that reaches into the parts of you that have been quietly aching for something.

From an early age, I was performing.

Not on a stage, not with a spotlight (not always anyways — but emotionally, verbally, socially.

I’ve always been someone who thinks a lot… and then overthinks what I just overthought. I care deeply about not just what others think, but how they feel. I notice discomfort in someone’s eyes and instinctively try to make it better.

From what I’ve learned, this is often called people-pleasing.

But to me, it was simply love — or at least, the version of it I thought I had to earn.

This quote felt like a shift. Like someone opening a window and letting the air in.

It asked me, softly but clearly:

Who am I when I’m not performing for the critic in my mind?

And honestly?

I’m calmer.

I’m more thoughtful.

I’m able to be present — with myself, and with the people I love.

I laugh more. I soften. I feel at home in my own rhythm.

When I slow down, when I stop trying to curate every version of me that someone else might expect — I return to the life I actually feel drawn to live.

And that is the point.

That is the freedom.

That is the invitation.

A Gentle Reminder:

There’s a version of you that isn’t edited, isn’t hustling, isn’t trying to fit.

She’s not missing. She’s just been waiting — patiently — for you to notice she was never too much or not enough. She’s simply you.

And she is worthy of being lived in, just as she is.

A Soft Journal Prompt:

Who are you when you’re not performing?

Not for the world, not for your inner critic — not even for the version of you you think you should be.

But for you — the real, breathing, beautiful you.

written from the heart, always.

tender+wild