Category: Healing my inner child

When Silence Stops Being Peace

Who do you spend the most time with?

There’s a point where silence stops being peace and becomes survival.

Today I tried to breathe through the noise—the tiptoeing, the poking, the quiet gaslighting that makes me question whether the walls are closing in or if I’m just imagining it. But I know I’m not. I feel the pressure. I feel the weight of holding up this whole damn world on my shoulders, and no one’s offering a hand—just more mess to carry.

My child’s father is out here pretending to parent, not because he wants to be involved, but because he wants to win. Win what? I don’t know. A medal for showmanship? He’s trying to prove he’s the “better” parent, and I don’t care—except when my baby’s involved. When his theatre spills over into her life, I care deeply. Because I know the difference between being there and being seen. I don’t want his ego anywhere near my daughter’s sense of safety.

And my mother… I don’t even know where to start. She crossed the line again. I asked her not to teach my child to clean up clothes when she throws them during playtime. I said, “Please, not yet. Let her play. Let me see who she’s becoming.” But she did it anyway. She always does. She parented us with fear, and now she’s trying to sneak that same fear into my child. The same fear that made me shrink myself for years. And when I told her how I felt, she twisted it. Said I treat her badly. As if saying no to her means I’m attacking her. As if asserting myself means I’ve betrayed her.

I didn’t say no to control her. I said no to protect my daughter. But she doesn’t hear that.

It hurts. Deeply. Because I let her in again, and she showed me that she’s still not safe. I want her to be a grandmother, but not at the cost of my daughter’s joy. Not at the cost of her freedom. And definitely not at the cost of repeating what broke me.

So when we move, I’ll be drawing the line—hard and clear. She’ll either respect my role as the mother, or she won’t be allowed to be left alone with my child. No more compromises. No more letting my daughter absorb dynamics I’m trying so hard to undo.

I don’t want to be strong anymore. I want to be free.

But until then, I sit in my little corner. Trying to hold on. Trying to stay sane. Trying not to scream when everyone’s whispering over my shoulder, undoing everything I’m building with my bare hands and my tired heart.

I’m not asking for perfection. Just peace. And if I have to build it brick by brick with my own sanity as mortar, then so be it.

But God, it’s lonely here.

Breaking Isn’t Betrayal, It’s Rebirth

What notable things happened today?

Some days the heaviness doesn’t come from what’s said—it comes from what keeps happening in silence. The quiet, consistent pressure to shrink myself. To make space for everyone else’s unhealed wounds. To not offend. To not disrupt. To not speak the truth that lives in my chest.

But I can’t do that anymore.

I won’t.

Last night, a moment in my own home—my supposed safe space—spiraled into a reminder that for some people, trauma isn’t something to heal; it’s something to wield. My mum was triggered by a man closing cupboards too loudly. Suddenly, it wasn’t just noise—it was war drums. Her voice changed, her defenses rose, and I became the enemy again. The ungrateful one. The one who doesn’t understand. The one who’s cold.

But I do understand.

I’ve always understood.

That’s the problem.

I know the kind of fear that lives in houses with screaming fathers. I know what it feels like to wish your mum would leave, and then feel guilty when she didn’t. I know how to make myself invisible to keep the peace. How to become emotionally responsible for people who never took responsibility for themselves.

But now? I’m raising a daughter. I’m raising myself.

I told my mum she needs therapy. That trauma doesn’t make her entitled to control other people’s emotions. That not every raised voice is abuse. That not every tension is a reflection of her. She didn’t like that. She said she’d rather live alone than be “abused.” She said I’ll never understand. She said my brother would never “turn on her” like I have.

But I’m not turning.

I’m returning—to myself.

To my voice. To my boundaries. To the version of me that sees things clearly now.

I’m not in therapy for fun. I’m not healing for applause. I’m healing because I want to be a mother who breaks the chain. Who doesn’t teach her child that love means shrinking. Or that safety means silence. Or that protecting someone else’s feelings is more important than protecting your peace.

This is what people don’t talk about when they say “break generational curses.”

They don’t tell you it feels like betrayal.

They don’t tell you it’s lonely.

They don’t tell you the people who hurt you will call you the abuser for refusing to carry their pain.

But I didn’t start this fire—I’m just refusing to burn in it.

So no, I’m not sorry.

I’m not cruel.

I’m not ungrateful.

I’m aware.

And I’m not going back.

Because one day, my daughter will thank me.

Not for being perfect—but for being the one who stopped pretending it wasn’t broken.

The Day I Chose Me

Today, something felt different. Not perfect. Not magical. Just… different.

I woke up, tired — but not defeated. And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t drag myself through the day with a heaviness I couldn’t name. I didn’t need to collapse back into bed or silence the voice in my head that says, “You can’t do this.”

Today, I just did.

I worked. I focused. I stayed present. No panic. No spiral. No emotional hangover.

I felt like me. Just me.

Not a version performing for approval.

Not a mother trying to prove she’s enough.

Not a daughter swallowing her rage.

Not a woman trying to outrun shame.

Just… me. Showing up. Living. Healing.

In therapy, I talked about the things I used to love. I smiled — genuinely smiled — at the memory of joy. It felt distant, but not unreachable. I remembered her… the girl I used to be before the world told me to shrink. The girl who danced in the kitchen. The girl who dreamed loud and gave generously. She’s still here. I felt her today.

And when my mum complained — when she threw her storm toward me — I didn’t fold. I didn’t over-function. I didn’t become a sponge for her stress.

I said no.

I said enough.

I said, “I don’t want this energy. I’m done with this cycle.”

And the most shocking part? I didn’t replay it in my head. I didn’t shrink in guilt. I didn’t apologise for protecting my peace.

I just… let it go.

I think I’m finally understanding that healing isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about remembering who I was before the world told me I wasn’t enough.

Today, I chose me.

And maybe tomorrow I’ll be tired again, or doubt might creep back in. But today? Today I saw the woman I’m becoming — and I loved her.

I’m proud of me.

Coming Home to Myself

I found my purpose not in saving others, but in finally choosing myself

I used to wake up every day and pour myself out for everyone else. My purpose was stitched together with the needs of my family — their dreams, their survival, their peace. First it was my parents and siblings. Then, when I began to suffocate under the weight of that, I started telling myself I was doing it for my future children. That somehow made the pain more noble. Gave it a pretty frame. But inside, I was hollow. My wins weren’t mine. My labor, my sacrifices — never mine to enjoy. The fruits were handed over, and I was expected to smile through the starvation of my spirit.

Then I had my daughter.

And for the first time in years, I felt life breathe back into me. She gave me something to fight for. Something to anchor me. But still… there was a hole. I couldn’t name it. Couldn’t describe it. It would quietly creep in at night or in the quiet moments. I had love around me — kind of — and yet this emptiness kept knocking. Loud. Unrelenting.

I thought I was loving myself. I had confidence. I could make people laugh, put myself together, show up. But now I know — confidence isn’t the same as self-love. Self-love is not just smiling in the mirror. It’s not just buying yourself flowers. It’s standing tall and saying: I am worthy. I deserve good things. I don’t need to perform to be loved. And anyone who thinks otherwise can get the hell out of my way.

This year, something shifted.

I looked around and realized I’d skipped the most important lesson — me. I’d skipped learning how to be my own home, my own source of joy. I thought love had to come from giving. That I had to earn it. Prove it. Bleed for it. But now I know — I already am it. I am love. I am enough. Every single version of me, even the messy ones, especially the messy ones.

I used to believe what I was told growing up: that I was too much and not enough at the same time. That no one would ever love me unless they were passing through. That I could win a hundred medals and still be losing. That dreams were dangerous because disappointment was guaranteed.

But no more.

I’m done shrinking. Done swallowing my worth. Done bending backwards for people who only know how to take. I am not a sacrifice. I am not an extension of someone else’s life. I am my own.

I am effin loveable. Anyone who gets to be loved by me is lucky. I’m the prize. The damn treasure. A queen, a goddess, dripping in gold, wrapped in grace, and rising with fire. The little girl who used to stay up all night studying, desperate for approval — she was always more than enough. She is extraordinary. And I see her now. I hold her close.

I can’t rewrite my past. But I’m rewriting my future. Today. With every breath. Every boundary. Every time I choose me.

I don’t just want love anymore. I am love.

And when love comes knocking again — real love, warm love, love that sees me — I’ll be ready. Because it’s just coming home to where it already lives.