Everyone wants to be loved and understood in a way that feels like the ointment they've been searching for their entire lives. But no one wants to be vulnerable, to acknowledge their scars, sit with their grief, mourn the moments that were stripped away from them, fix their issues, face their triggers, and gradually heal the child who had to become their protector. It's easier to run away when things start feeling intimate-to wear your trauma-born personality as your favorite garment-because you don't even know who you are without it. You call it strength, but sometimes it's just fear wearing a different name. Not everyone is out there to hurt you, but are you ready to realize that sometimes you are the one who ends up hurting those who were only trying to genuinely help you, the ones who saw the light in you even when you refused to see it yourself?
