Reclaiming the Language That Names Me
There was a time when the words used about me didn't feel like mine.
They were chosen by others.
Given to me before I had the confidence to question them.
Some sounded polite.
Some sounded professional.
Some sounded like they were helping.
But something about them never felt quite right.
I felt that long before I could explain why.
The way certain words didn't quite hold me.
The way others softened or shifted parts of who I am.
The way being named incorrectly can quietly move you away from yourself.
Reclaiming language wasn't about correcting people.
It was about returning to myself.
Choosing words that feel true when I say them.
Letting my identity be named from the inside out.
Now, the language I use feels steadier.
It holds something of me that wasn't there before.
Something closer to recognition.
Something closer to home.
The words that name me matter.
Not only in how I'm seen.
But in how I stay connected to who I am.
I'm still learning what it means to hold that fully.
