Such an honest and well-told tale of people pleasing. "Because, apparently, the pressure of deciding your entire future when you can't even legally drive wasn't enough. We needed to add some bling to the breakdown." And I agree with Zail on being able to relate. Much of this feels very close to home.
Love your writing overall, but I gotta shout out your masterful use of analogies. Sometimes they hit the nail on the head so hard it goes all the way through.
“It felt like my life had become an endless audition for a part I never truly wanted” — oh man is that relatable. How you described your chrysalis made me realize I went through a similar one in 2020 as well (like much of the world did, a silver lining of the pandemic I suppose!) Happy for you that you’ve found your authentic path. Great piece!
And I could relate to this so much! Once somebody told me "Ideal son, Ideal dad, Ideal hubby, ideal brother, ideal manager... This burden of idealism will kill you one day." Not that I have fundamentally changed since that conversation, but I think being cognizant of this was a good start!
And I could see that you are on your self-discovery journey since the realization!
Such an honest and well-told tale of people pleasing. "Because, apparently, the pressure of deciding your entire future when you can't even legally drive wasn't enough. We needed to add some bling to the breakdown." And I agree with Zail on being able to relate. Much of this feels very close to home.
Some wonderful writing and introspection here. Love it.
Incredibly relatable and super poignant! What really stood out to me is the addiction to people-pleasing! Oof I know it too well.
So well written!
Love your writing overall, but I gotta shout out your masterful use of analogies. Sometimes they hit the nail on the head so hard it goes all the way through.
It takes some good guts to express this .
“It felt like my life had become an endless audition for a part I never truly wanted” — oh man is that relatable. How you described your chrysalis made me realize I went through a similar one in 2020 as well (like much of the world did, a silver lining of the pandemic I suppose!) Happy for you that you’ve found your authentic path. Great piece!
This is a great story, Ishita. I can relate as a former people pleaser myself.
This is a really powerful reflection conveyed through very evocative writing. Amazing!
Very powerful and authentic article, Ishita!
And I could relate to this so much! Once somebody told me "Ideal son, Ideal dad, Ideal hubby, ideal brother, ideal manager... This burden of idealism will kill you one day." Not that I have fundamentally changed since that conversation, but I think being cognizant of this was a good start!
And I could see that you are on your self-discovery journey since the realization!