12/09/2025
Following on my from my other post a few days ago about being authentic, I wanted to continue the conversation.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge how for most of us, it can feel really hard to shed other people’s expectations and live in a way that feels true to us.
But for some, the stakes are exceptionally high. Some people face the very real possibility of being outcast from their family or community if they reveal who they truly are - or who they love. Or that they see the world differently.
If they come out as anything that is not considered ‘the norm’, - if they don’t fit the traditional roles that society has deemed as the way life ‘should be’.
And if they dare, to speak of a different way of ‘doing life’ or ‘being’, they are cast out and effectively abandoned, just for daring to present themselves to the world.
Some people spend their lives working up the courage to stand tall and true in their own skin, only to be shot down in flames and to have love and acceptance taken away by those they love and cherish the most.
If this speaks to you, I see you.
I understand the complexity of trying to figure out how much of yourself to give up or hide in order to stay accepted and approved of. Or how to deal with unimaginable losses if you chose to be who you really are whatever the cost.
Being you shouldn’t be as hard as it is. And I’m so sorry that some people spend their life living in other people’s cages.
I’ve always loved this quote from Carl Jung, but I am sitting here now wondering if being who we truly are is actually a privilege, or is it our fundamental right? 🤔💭
Answers on a postcard please. 🙏🏼
