MOre than Me

Many women spend years believing love has to be earned.

Earned through overgiving. Earned through understanding. Earned through patience. Earned through carrying more than their share and asking for less than they truly need.

One of the most freeing realizations is discovering that healthy love does not require you to abandon yourself to keep it. The right people are not looking for how much you can endure. They are looking for who you are.

There is a different kind of peace that arrives when you stop performing for belonging and start trusting that being fully yourself is enough.

At some point you begin craving conversations that actually nourish you. Not just updates, gossip, appearances, or surface-level performance, but honesty, depth, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and genuine connection.

Growth changes the way you relate to people. You start noticing how rare it is to be around someone who can speak authentically, listen intentionally, and hold conversations that leave you feeling more connected instead of emotionally drained.

There is nothing wrong with outgrowing environments that no longer challenge your mind, your heart, or the person you are becoming.

be it anyway.

A poem I wrote almost 17 years ago. I had completely forgotten about it until I found it in one of my old journals last week.

Written during one of the most confusing, painful, and isolating periods of my young adult life: the crumbling of my first marriage - and, in many ways, my whole world.
I was 24.

My reason for sharing this here? This week, this poem feels like a reminder.
When life presents you with a challenge that feels too big to hold… when your world feels like it is shaking, crumbling beneath your feet… This is not destruction, it's a new beginning. Some things need to end in order for others to begin.

This poem is about navigating a chaotic season of uncertainty, feeling overwhelmed by your own thoughts and by the ever-present noise of the world around you.
That deep longing for stillness - to get away, to drown out the noise.
Honor that. In a healthy way. That longing is a message, a gentle nudge to give yourself space to breathe, to feel, to rest - however that may look for you.

When I wrote this poem, I had no reference for “going within,” “regulating the nervous system,” or finding clarity through mind-heart coherence. I had no idea what prayer was all about.
I wasn’t even aware that it was possible to find a place of stillness and trust amidst the chaos.

I believe the words came from a place of reaching for hope and refusing to surrender to despair. One day wishing for an easy exit, even at times for death, and the next day clinging to the hope of better days to come.

But the message in the poem turned out to be true.
There is sense to be found in the stillness, Deep below. "Daar onder".
In the inner sanctuary of your heart♡

♡For anyone who may need this message today, I hope it brings some comfort. We are often far stronger than we give ourselves credit for. When you find yourself in a season where nothing makes sense, and you feel your faith slipping through your fingers, there is always hope.
Be still and know: you are never alone.
This too shall pass♡
~More Than Me~

"Hey, what have you been up to? How's work?...
Me: "....uhm, well...🙃🤪💫💚✨️