i have misread rooms my entire life in a very specific way — i always assumed the best. walked into situations optimistically, gave people the most generous interpretation, let my hope overwrite the evidence.
sometimes this is a beautiful quality. it means i've given people chances they deserved. it means i walk into new things without the weight of assuming the worst. but sometimes — more times than i like to admit — it meant i stayed somewhere too long because i kept reading the room as better than it was. i've been working on calibration. not cynicism — i don't want that. i just want to be able to see a room clearly, warmly, and accurately. to hold space for the best in people while also trusting what my body already knows.
the two things can coexist. hope and clarity are not opposites. they can live in the same chest if you let them.
i'll take that. i'll take that into the next one.
@diverse_.writes