Playing Small Isn't Noble 🎭

"Your silence will not protect you." — Audre Lorde

Let me tell you something hard-earned:
There was a stretch of my life where I didn't speak up. Not at work, not in relationships, not even with myself. I had convinced myself that staying quiet was wise. That humility meant shrinking.

“Who benefits most from the version of you that's playing small?”

But that wasn't humility.
It was fear, with a halo.

I wasn’t being kind. I was being manageable. Palatable. Predictable. And the more I performed that version of myself, the more the world rewarded it.

Easy to love. Easy to overlook. Easy to control.

The people who benefited from my smallness weren’t the ones who truly loved me. They were the ones who feared what might happen if I fully showed up.

These small notes arrive quietly,
like morning light through a cracked window.
No noise. Just truth.
💌 Subscribe here to keep receiving them.

Your inner work.

Try this journal prompt:
What part of you have you shrunk to protect someone else's comfort?

Now ask yourself, was it worth the cost?