The Art of Belonging to Myself

What skill would you like to learn?

Not crochet, not the guitar, or the mystery of a foreign language. The skill I’d actually want is something far less obvious: how to be comfortable in my own skin.

Some people just seem to have it. They walk into a room, sit down at a table, and it never crosses their mind to wonder if they belong there. Meanwhile, I’ve spent years second guessing myself, twisting my brain into knots trying to say and do the “right” thing. Spoiler: there is no right thing.

Alongside that comes another skill I wish I had, to trust myself when I make decisions. Not just the big dramatic ones, but the everyday choices too. Saying yes without worrying it should’ve been no. Saying no without replaying it for three days straight. Making a choice and actually backing myself, instead of waiting for someone else’s approval stamp.

And if I’m being brutally honest, the one that really sticks: not living in the shadow of my parents disappointment. That’s a shadow that stretches long, and no matter how far you think you’ve walked from it, it somehow catches up.

So yeah, if I could pick a skill, it wouldn’t be juggling or baking sourdough. It’d be the art of belonging to myself. 

❤️