Love That Lets You Be All of You

For a long time, I believed love was conditional. I thought in order to be accepted, I had to shrink myself—hide the parts that felt “too much,” smooth over the edges that didn’t fit, and tuck away the truths that made others uncomfortable.

And for a while, I did.I played smaller. I swallowed words I wanted to say. I quieted parts of myself that were screaming to be seen.

But here’s the thing: living like that doesn’t bring you love—it brings you abandonment. Not from others, but from yourself.

Real Love Doesn’t Ask You to Shrink

I’ve learned that love which asks you to be “less” isn’t really love at all. Love doesn’t come with fine print. It doesn’t hand you a checklist of traits you’re allowed to show and ones you need to bury. Love doesn’t require you to choose between belonging and authenticity.

Real love—the kind that roots deep, the kind that heals, the kind that expands—meets you where you are. It sees the messy, the loud, the soft, the queer, the complicated, the human. And it doesn’t just tolerate it. It cherishes it.

Finding Your People

The truth is, not everyone will get you. Not everyone will celebrate the fullness of who you are. And that’s okay.

Because the more

you honor your own truth, the more you attract the people who are meant to walk alongside you. The ones who don’t flinch at your honesty. The ones who love you not despite your authenticity, but because of it.

If you’re in the messy middle of this journey—learning to stand in your whole self—I want you to know: you don’t have to shrink. You don’t have to contort yourself to fit into someone else’s comfort zone.

The right people won’t ask you to dim your light. They’ll want to stand in it with you.

And that’s the kind of love we all deserve. 🌈

#QueerVisibility #UnapologeticallyMe #LoveWithoutConditions #QueerAndProud #QueerJoy #LGBTQVoices