Thursday, July 10, 2025

7° of Showing Up

I don’t know who will read this.

Maybe no one. Maybe someone I’ll never meet.

But I’m writing it anyway—because today, I showed up.

There was a time in my life when I would’ve waited for permission—someone to say it was worth it. That I was worth it. I didn’t realize back then that the most powerful healing often comes not when the world affirms you, but when you learn to affirm yourself.

And honestly? That’s what this is. A slow, quiet re-parenting of the creative spirit. A reclamation of something I once thought I’d missed the chance to reclaim.

It’s discipline, yes. But it’s also devotion.

Not to productivity. Not to perfection. But to presence. To self-trust.

Because I’m not doing this for the algorithm.

I’m not here for the likes, or the numbers, or the vanity metrics.

I’m here because I still believe in showing up.

One post at a time. One breath at a time. One day at a time.

I showed up for me.

And that matters.

And for me, that’s enough.

It’s strange how much resistance can come with something so simple: being present. Creating something. Saying, “I was here.” Especially when it feels like no one’s listening. There’s an ache that comes with obscurity—when you pour your heart into something and it barely echoes back.

But lately, I’ve been learning that obscurity doesn’t mean insignificance. Sometimes, the most important part of the process isn’t the outcome. It’s that I keep showing up anyway.

Showing up now, later in life, feels different than it would have years ago. Back then, it was about proving something. Now it’s about healing something. Mending the places where I silenced myself. Where I shrank to fit into spaces that weren’t built for my full voice.

And science quietly backs this up: psychologists call it “behavioral activation”—the practice of engaging in meaningful actions even when motivation is low. It’s been shown to help reduce depression and rewire the brain’s reward system. So yes, even the small acts—like writing this post—can, over time, help us find our way back to ourselves.

And today, even if no one else saw it—I did.