18/09/2026
Survival made me extraordinarily resourceful. One thing it taught me was how to read a room. I also learned how to walk on eggshells, fight, fawn, be prepared, disappear, and appear pulled together while quietly falling apart.
Every version of me had a role to play. Healing asks a different question: which of these ways of being still belong to me, and which were masks I wore to get through?
I have learned not to judge the woman I became in order to survive. She was doing the best she could with what she knew, and some of her instincts still serve me beautifully.
κ© Ella
