Well, Isn’t It Ironic

The strange comfort of being secure in what once made me shrink

Featured Quote

“The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”— African Proverb

I used to spend so much energy hiding the parts of me I thought made me unworthy.The anxiety.The self-doubt.The overthinking.The way I felt too much and said too little.The way I’d shrink in the presence of loud confidence because mine didn’t look the same.

I tried to package myself in a way that would be easier to digest. Easier to like. Easier to love.

But the gag is — the things I ran from are the very things that taught me who I really am.

The Irony of My Insecurities

I used to beg for validation in rooms I didn’t belong in.I used to keep quiet so I wouldn’t be "too much."I used to carry shame like a second skin — heavy and invisible, but always there.

Now?I walk into those same rooms, aware of every flaw — but with my head high.I still have the same insecurities, but they don’t own me anymore.They don’t dictate my worth. They don’t sit at the head of my table.

Isn’t it ironic?That the very things that once made me feel small —Are now the things I stand in with full awareness and zero apology.

When You Get Tired of Shrinking

You eventually get tired of trying to be palatable.Of filtering your voice.Of measuring your value by how comfortable others feel around your truth.

I got tired.Tired of explaining my silence.Tired of hiding my anxiety like it was something shameful.Tired of pretending I didn’t feel like an imposter in spaces I earned the right to be in.

One day, I just decided:If I’m going to live with these insecurities, I might as well get comfortable inside them.Learn the shape of them.Speak their name.Stop pretending I’m not carrying them and just… carry them differently.

My Insecurities Are Not My Enemies

I don’t need to be fearless to be strong.I don’t need to be healed to be whole.I don’t need to be confident every day to show up like I am.

I can be both insecure and worthy.I can be unsure and still deserve love.I can be anxious and still take up space.

That’s the irony no one tells you:You don’t become powerful by pretending your struggles don’t exist.You become powerful when you stop running from them.

Secure, Still Healing

I am secure in my insecurities.That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped growing.It means I’ve stopped performing.

I’ve stopped giving people the edited version of me just so they’ll stay.I’ve stopped abandoning myself just to be embraced by a "village" that never saw me to begin with.

Let them burn their own walls down.I’ve built a home inside myself —and it’s messy, but it’s mine.

If you’re still hiding your insecurities, I see you. But trust me — there’s something powerful waiting on the other side of honesty. Lean in. You don’t have to be perfect to belong. Just real.