The Ghosts of Dreams You Abandoned 👻
"Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, ‘It might have been.’” — Kurt Vonnegut
I told myself I didn’t need it,
the application, the audition,
the key that would’ve fit a door I never knocked on.
Watched someone else wear my hunger
like it was tailored for them.
Clapped until my palms stung,
called it support.
Called it maturity.
Called it timing.
But every night,
there’s a version of me pacing a hallway
that doesn’t exist,
still holding the letter I never mailed.
Some ghosts don’t show up in mirrors.
They appear at 2am, when you’re wide awake, scrolling through other people’s lives wondering how you ended up watching instead of living.
They show up in your gut.
That pit you feel when someone else does the thing you secretly wanted to—but never let yourself try.
Not because you weren’t good enough.
But because you talked yourself out of it before life ever got the chance.
“We are haunted most by the dreams we never dared to pursue.”
That’s the brutal truth.
You didn’t fail.
You forfeited.
You negotiated with fear.
You traded discomfort now for regret later.
And now?
You feel it.
That quiet ache that says:
"There was more in me. But I buried it."
I’ve buried things too.
Writing. Speaking. Creating.
All shoved into a drawer labeled “maybe someday.”
But someday is a lie fear sells to buy time.
And it always collects interest in regret.
The truth is most of us aren’t haunted by what we did.
We’re haunted by what we never dared to try.
These small notes arrive quietly,
like morning light through a cracked window.
No noise. Just truth.
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Try this prompt today:
“What dream still calls to me… even if I pretend it doesn’t?”
Be honest. No filters. No “but I’m too old,” “too late,” “too messy.”
Just write.
Then write this under it:
“I’m allowed to want this. And I’m allowed to start again.”
You don’t need confidence to begin.
You need courage to stop pretending you never cared.
You are not too late.
If the dream still lives in you, it wasn’t foolish. It wasn’t random. It wasn’t a phase.
It was a message. From your deeper self. The part of you that refuses to die quietly.
So don’t bury it again.
Dust it off.
Pick it up.
Breathe into it.
And take the smallest possible step toward it today.
Not for applause.
Not for proof.
Just because it’s yours.
And you’re still here.
Have you ever given up on something you secretly still want?
Maybe a path you almost took.
A creative dream. A move. A change.
What’s held you back? And what would it feel like to try again now?
Share your story in the comments, or hit reply.
Let’s name the ghosts. And maybe set some of them free.
If you’re here, you’re part of something real, something that holds space for healing without the need to perform. I don’t take that lightly.
If this space feels like home.
If it holds your ache, your becoming, your breath.
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However you choose to support, whether by sharing, buying a coffee, or simply showing up… thank you. Truly.
If you think these gentle words cut deep, wait until you read Shadow Thoughts. That’s where I let the truth bleed without cleaning it up for anyone.
