🕵🏾‍♀️ DISCOVER 🕵🏾‍♀️

Who do you feel the most at ease with?

Friends, best friends and chosen family.

Acquaintances are people I’ve seen before, and when I encounter them again, I think, “Hey, I know you from somewhere,” and I explore whether I feel seen by them.

Potential friends are people I sense I could feel seen by.

Friends are warm people who make me feel truly seen in my boundaries, needs, and emotions. They try to understand, connect, and act responsibly. They try to mostly operate from a healthy adult mode, which shapes how they show up in the world.

Their warm presence opens doors in the world, simply by existing they contribute to more stability in the world.

I recognize that these friends are human, just like I am. For example, alongside my healthy mode, I have an intense fiery side with a sharp tongue.

I try to show this side only when it feels safe and welcomed, and I am still learning to manage it carefully in my interactions.

Best friends are those who, in addition to all of the above, share interests, passions, or hobbies with me.

Chosen family are people who stand alongside my healthy adult mode and are allowed to hold the hand of my child mode.

This categorization exists in my mind(only:)🥲), helping me understand my social world, because I have unlearned how to start and maintain friendships.

The category of enemies has mostly dissolved as I set boundaries and make peace with the “enemy within.”

But sometimes I revert to black-and-white thinking, which creates an immediate but fleeting sense of safety. Increasingly, I manage to place things in perspective more quickly.