Unmasking Fear

The longest battle I ever fought was learning to stop hiding from my own light.

Photo by Fairuz Naufal Zaki on Unsplash

There was a time
when fear and I
knew each other intimately.

Not the dramatic kind of fear
people recognize easily.

Not standing-on-the-edge-of-a-cliff fear.

Not thunderstorm fear.

Not fear of failure.

No.

Mine was quieter than that.

Mine learned to live
inside the smallest corners of me.

Invisible.

Constant.

The kind of fear
that teaches a child
to disappear.

I grew up believing
the safest way to survive
was silence.

Do not speak too loudly.

Do not draw attention.

Do not take up too much space.

Become invisible
before the world notices you.

I learned this early.

Too early.