The Original You Was Never Lost

The day is done, and the armor you wore to be loved finally hits the floor with a heavy thud. You look in the mirror and realize the face staring back is a collage of everyone else's expectations, edited until the original was lost.

You have shrunk yourself so many times to fit into their love that you no longer know where you end and their approval begins. But listen — the light does not need you to perform a personality it can tolerate.

It is not asking for the curated version you spent all day building. There is a truth living inside you that existed before the first edit, before the first compromise.

It has been waiting in the quiet, untouched by the mask. You do not need to construct a new self to be held tonight.

You only need to stop hiding the one that is already there, buried under the weight of who you thought you should be.