Your Blind Spots Are Running the Show 👁️

“He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.” — Confucius

I lied about how much it burned,
the apology I forced through my teeth
just to stitch the room back together,
the apology I rehearsed so often
it wore my own name thin.

The mirror flinched first,
long before my tongue surrendered.
Now I catch myself mid-fable,
mid-shield,
mid-shrink.

No revelation ever rattled me
like my own voice,
unmasked,
steady enough to hold its own blade.

You can be smart.
You can be educated.
You can read every book on psychology, motivation, and mindset and still sabotage every good thing in your life.

Why?

Because knowledge is potential.
But self-awareness… That’s direction.

“If knowledge is power, self-awareness is the ultimate superpower.”

I’ve known people who could quote Jung, break down cognitive distortions, and explain trauma theory like a PhD candidate, but couldn’t admit when they were the ones being manipulative. Or defensive. Or deeply afraid of intimacy.

And I’ve been that person too.

You don’t need more facts.
You need the guts to look at yourself.

Not the version you present.
Not the version you defend.
The version that flinches at silence. That lashes out under stress. That fears success more than failure because at least failure feels familiar.

Self-awareness is brutal.
It doesn’t flatter your ego.
It hands you a mirror with no filter.

But it’s also the beginning of actual choice.

Because until you see what you’re doing, what part of you is driving the behavior, you’re just reenacting old programs.

Old fears.
Old wounds.
Old stories pretending to be truth.

Ding ding! In this corner: A degree. In the other: A decade of journaling.

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

Try this:

Today, write down three situations where you reacted strongly this week.

Doesn’t matter if it was justified.
Just write them out.

Then next to each one, ask:

“What part of me felt threatened here?”
Security? Approval? Control? Love?

Now ask:
“Did that part need protection or truth?”

That’s how self-awareness sharpens you.
Not through shame. But through precision.

Self-awareness isn’t just emotional intelligence.

It’s survival. It’s freedom. It’s power… earned, not inherited.

And it’s yours, the moment you stop outsourcing your clarity to someone else’s opinion, and start listening to your own data.

Because you’ve always been giving yourself clues.

You were never as lost as you thought.

You just weren’t listening yet.

But now…

Now, you are.

Keep going.

What’s something you’ve recently become aware of in yourself?

A habit? A pattern? A role you were playing without realizing?

How did it shift your relationships, your decisions, your sense of self?

If you feel ready, share it. Let’s normalize not knowing ourselves—until we do. And honoring the courage it takes to get there.

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.
Consider becoming a paid subscriber, not out of obligation, but as a gesture of shared reverence for this work.

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However you choose to support, whether by sharing, buying a coffee, or simply showing up… thank you. Truly.

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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.