Trauma survivors are often called “challenging” when they’re simply asking curious, thoughtful questions. This Step 2 entry explores how emotional illiteracy leads to mislabeling, and how reclaiming curiosity becomes a powerful step toward identity healing.

There’s a strange kind of clarity that comes at the end of a long healing cycle. It’s the clarity that shows up when you realize your personal life didn’t just change, it synced.

There’s a strange moment in adulthood when you realize that belonging is no longer something you chase; it’s something you choose. But only after you’ve lived through enough rooms where you were tolerated at best, misunderstood at worst, and miscast somewhere in between.

Some people grew up in families where their existence made sense at a glance. They spoke and were understood. They felt something, and it was believed.

There’s a particular kind of surrender that doesn’t feel like giving up, but it also doesn’t feel like determination. It feels like… floatation. Like a leaf that finally falls into the water.

For years, I carried the belief that I was “too much.” Too intense. Too inquisitive. Too emotional. Too direct.