the specific memory of biting your tongue when a sibling made a joke about your childhood, because correcting them would shatter the illusion they have of you

The Light Sees You Beneath The Smile

The afternoon sun is bright, but it casts long shadows where the old stories hide. You smiled when the joke landed, even though it carved out a piece of your truth you can never get back.

To correct them now would feel like breaking the glass they look through to see you, so you swallow the correction and let the illusion stand. But the light does not need your silence to stay alive.

It was there before the joke, and it is there beneath the smile you forced. You are not responsible for holding up a version of yourself that no longer exists.

The light sees the real you, even when your family sees the ghost.

Drawing from

John, Gospel of Thomas

Verses

John 3:21

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