I can accept being disliked for something I actually did.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
That does not mean it feels good.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Consequences can hurt.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Knowing somebody is angry with you can hurt.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Knowing you disappointed somebody can hurt.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
But if I did something wrong, at least there is something real to work with.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I can say:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I did that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I was wrong.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I am sorry.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Here is what I am doing differently.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
There is a kind of peace in honesty, even when the truth about yourself is uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Being misunderstood is different.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Being misunderstood means somebody may dislike you for something you did not do.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Something you did not mean.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Something they heard.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Something they assumed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Something they were told about you before you ever had a chance to speak.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
And that is much harder for me to accept.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Because when somebody misunderstands you, your instinct is to explain.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you only knew.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you only heard my side.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you only understood what this meant.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you knew why that happened.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you actually knew me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
For a long time, I thought enough explanation could fix almost anything.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I do not believe that anymore.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n There is a strange kind of pain in feeling like people are looking directly at you but not actually seeing you.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You can feel completely exposed and completely invisible at the same time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n People can have opinions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Make jokes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Make comments.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Close doors.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Treat you differently.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And meanwhile you are standing there thinking:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Who exactly are you looking at?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because it does not feel like me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That confusion can wear on you.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Especially when a misunderstanding starts becoming a misrepresentation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n One person’s assumption becomes another person’s information.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Someone hears a story.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They repeat it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Somebody else fills in a gap.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Another person adds what they think it means.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Eventually the original thing may barely matter anymore.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There is just a version of you moving through rooms you have never entered.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is the part that can do real damage.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Not only to you.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n To your work.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Your relationships.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Your family.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The people around you.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And sometimes you never even know exactly what was said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You just start noticing the consequences.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I have had moments where something finally clicked.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Oh.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is why they acted like that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is why that conversation felt strange.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is why somebody suddenly became cold.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is why that opportunity disappeared.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is an unsettling feeling to realize somebody may have been interacting with you based on information you did not even know existed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And once you realize that, it becomes very easy to start explaining everything.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Overexplaining, really.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You feel like every conversation needs context.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Every misunderstanding needs a correction.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Every suspicious look needs an answer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Every wrong assumption needs proof.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I have absolutely fallen into that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And the worst part is that sometimes you can have exactly what you think should resolve it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Receipts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Documentation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Context.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Years of actions that contradict whatever somebody believes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And it still does not matter.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because sometimes people are not deciding whether something is true.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They are deciding whether they are willing to reconsider what they already believe.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Those are very different things.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I grew up around enough confusion, arguments, and manipulation that facts became important to me very early.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I liked being able to prove what I said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There was something empowering about it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Not just:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Trust me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Here.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Look.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n This is what happened.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That probably explains part of why I became so interested in documentation later in life.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Cybersecurity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n OSINT.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Digital forensics.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Information that can be examined.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Things that can be independently verified.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It makes sense to me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Facts feel solid.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And when you have spent enough time around things that did not feel solid, proof can feel like safety.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But being misunderstood taught me something uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Proof is powerful.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is not magical.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You can put something directly in front of somebody and they may still not want to look.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because accepting new information can sometimes mean questioning people they trust.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Questioning decisions they made.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Questioning things they participated in.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Questioning themselves.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That can be a difficult pill to swallow.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And sometimes people decide they would rather not take the medicine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There is a difference between defending yourself and living in defense mode.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Defending yourself is responding to something specific.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Living defensively is different.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is walking into conversations already wondering what the other person heard.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is thinking about how a normal sentence might be interpreted.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is explaining before anybody even asks.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is hearing a strange comment and immediately wondering what is behind it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is noticing that certain things suddenly make people uncomfortable and trying to understand why.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I have lived too much of my life like that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And it is exhausting.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Not necessarily lonely.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I am actually comfortable being alone.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I like my own company.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I enjoy time with people too.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But defensive living is tiring because your mind is always working on something that may not even be happening in front of you.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n At some point you have to ask:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n How much access do other people’s assumptions get to have to my nervous system?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n I am still learning the answer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But I know it cannot be unlimited.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I would not say being misunderstood changed who I am.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But it did make me more cautious.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There are things I genuinely love talking about.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Technology.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Security.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Research.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Finding information.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Building systems.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Solving problems.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But I learned that even something as simple as the word “hacker” means completely different things to different people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n To me, ethical hacking is legitimate technical work.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n To somebody else, they hear one word.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Hacker.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Bad.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And the rest of the sentence barely matters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That can make you hesitate.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You start filtering yourself because you do not want something you care about misunderstood again.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There is something sad about that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Not being able to talk freely about something that excites you because you are wondering whether somebody is going to turn it into something else.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I am trying to move away from that too.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because constantly shrinking yourself to make misunderstanding less likely is still allowing misunderstanding to control you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n A person misunderstanding you is painful.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A system misunderstanding you can feel suffocating.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Systems have momentum.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n People communicate with each other.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Notes get passed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Opinions become assumptions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Assumptions become context.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And sometimes you feel like you are no longer dealing with one person’s misunderstanding.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You are dealing with a machine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That can make a person feel like the situation is impossible.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Especially if mistakes from your past already make it easier for people to believe the worst.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I understand that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I made mistakes when I was younger.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I made choices that gave people legitimate reasons to question me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But one of the things I have learned is that people want change to be clean.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They want somebody to learn the lesson once.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Never struggle again.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Never backslide.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Never react badly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Never need more time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Real growth does not usually look like that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I look at progress differently now.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I look for effort.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Are you trying?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Are you taking responsibility?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Are you changing the behavior?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Are your actions beginning to match your apology?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because saying “I’m sorry” without making any effort to change what caused the hurt eventually stops being an apology.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It becomes a pattern.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I think people deserve grace while they are trying to build a better pattern.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n One thing being misunderstood did not do was convince me that the false version was real.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I never started thinking:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe I actually am that person.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That does not mean I never questioned myself.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I question myself constantly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sometimes too much.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Could I have handled that better?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Should I have waited?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Was that the right response?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Did I make this worse?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What could I have done differently?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But those are questions about my actions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They are not questions about whether I know who I am.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I do.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I know where I have failed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I know where I have improved.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I know the work I have put into myself for years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I know what I want to do with my life.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And strangely, maybe that is one of the reasons being misunderstood was so confusing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because I could look at what I was actually doing and then look at the version other people seemed to believe and think:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n How did we get from here to there?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I still do not always have an answer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I have been incredibly fortunate in one way.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I have had people who knew me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Really knew me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n People who were there through enough of the story that there was not much to explain.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They had seen it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They knew.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And I have always appreciated them for that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But writing this made me realize even more how important that was.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n One person outside of yourself who knows the truth can be an incredible anchor.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n When everything feels confusing, they can say:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n No.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I was there.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I know you.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Keep your footing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That matters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A lot.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And it breaks my heart a little knowing not everybody has that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Somebody reading this may not have five people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Or two.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Or even one.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n If that is you, then until you find those people, you have to learn how to be that person for yourself.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Know yourself.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Check yourself honestly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Look at the facts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Own the things you actually did wrong.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Reject the things that are not yours.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You need an anchor.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sometimes, for a while, that anchor has to be you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n I actually believe most honest misunderstandings can be corrected.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n People get things wrong.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They trust the wrong source.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They miss context.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They make assumptions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That does not automatically make them bad people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n An honest conversation can fix an incredible amount of damage.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “Hey, I heard this.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “What?”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “No, that is not what happened.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Then people talk.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They ask questions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They listen.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They are honest.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And sometimes everybody leaves understanding each other a little better.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But honesty is required.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n If somebody has already decided the answer before the conversation begins, you are not resolving a misunderstanding.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You are playing a game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And I do not want to play anymore.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They can keep that version.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n They can keep that story.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I am just not going to live inside it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n I do not want to pretend I have mastered this.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I have not.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I am only recently learning how to accept that there are misunderstandings about me I may never correct.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I am not okay with everything.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I do not know how to make peace with every person who sees me incorrectly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Especially when the misunderstanding continues affecting people I love.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is still difficult.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe it always will be.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But I am learning something important.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There is a difference between accepting that something exists and accepting that it is true.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I can accept that somebody has the wrong version of me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That does not mean I have to adopt it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I can accept that I cannot change their mind today.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That does not mean they are right.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I can accept that a false perception exists without giving that perception ownership of my life.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is the peace I am trying to find.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n If there is one thing I wish people did more before forming strong opinions about somebody, it is simple.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ask a question.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Just one.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Is that true?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What happened?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What is your side?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Do you have anything that explains this?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n One honest question can stop an incredible amount of damage.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n We live in a world where information moves very quickly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Everybody has an opinion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Everybody has a feed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Everybody has a source.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But being told something confidently does not make it true.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n People make mistakes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n People misunderstand.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n People repeat things incorrectly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And yes, sometimes people lie.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Discernment matters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Context matters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Evidence matters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Talking to the actual person matters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I wish people were more willing to think for themselves.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Not because every accused person is innocent.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Not because every story is wrong.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Simply because truth deserves more effort than repetition.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I have never thought of myself as an especially judgmental person.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I have had friends from all sorts of backgrounds.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Different races.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Different incomes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Different lifestyles.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n None of that has ever mattered much to me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What mattered was who you were and how you treated people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But being seriously misunderstood changed something in me anyway.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I am even slower now to accept somebody else’s version of another person.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n If someone starts telling me about somebody else’s marriage, problems, mistakes, or character, I find myself asking:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Why am I being told this?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What am I not hearing?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What would the other person say?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Is this actually my business?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because I know how incomplete one story can be.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Being misunderstood made me more interested in understanding.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe that is one good thing I can take from it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The part I still struggle with most is not somebody simply thinking something bad about me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It is what misunderstanding can affect.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n My future.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n My work.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The things I want to build.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The people I want to help.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n My family.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Relationships.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is much harder for me to shrug off.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because I know what I want to do.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There are things I think would genuinely help people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Things I want to create.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ways I want to give my children more.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And watching a misunderstanding close a door in front of something good is difficult.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Watching misunderstanding affect people you love is worse.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I do not know if I will ever completely make peace with that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe peace is not even the right goal there.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe the goal is simply limiting how much more it gets to take.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n This is something I am finally starting to feel, not just understand intellectually.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n If somebody misunderstands me while I am still living honestly, loving my family, building things, trying to help people, and working on myself, what does their misunderstanding actually control?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Nothing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Unless I hand it something.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It can frustrate me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It can confuse me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In some situations it can create real obstacles.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But it does not get to decide who I become.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That is mine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And there is something incredibly freeing about realizing that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I do not have to fix every version of myself floating around in somebody else’s mind.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I need to keep living the real one.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe eventually my actions change someone’s mind.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe they do not.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But actions have a way of accumulating.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Day after day.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Year after year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Eventually you have a life.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And that life says something too.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n If I could sit beside somebody who feels completely unseen right now, I think the first thing I would say is:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I see you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n I may not know exactly what happened.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I may not understand every part of what you are carrying.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But you are not the only person who has ever felt like the whole world knows a version of you that you do not recognize.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You are not alone.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There are good people out there.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sometimes they are harder to find than they should be.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sometimes there may only be a few.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But a few good people are gold.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And if you do not have them yet, keep looking.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Until then, be one of those people for yourself.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Do not let somebody else’s misunderstanding become your identity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Keep your footing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Keep working.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Keep being honest.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Keep building.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Keep loving.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Keep doing good.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because one day somebody may learn something from the way you survived this.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe it is your children.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe they watched you walk through something terrible and still become gentler instead of harder.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe it is somebody you have never met.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Maybe they hear you say something one day and suddenly something clicks for them.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sometimes a tiny light is enough.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n To somebody who has been sitting in the dark for a long time, that tiny light can look like the sun.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n So keep going.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Stay focused.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Know who you are.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And when the noise gets loud, remember:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Being misunderstood does not make you unknown to yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n That matters more than you may realize.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I can accept being disliked for something I actually did. That does not mean it feels good. Consequences can hurt. Knowing somebody is angry with you can hurt.\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-truth-accountability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36,"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/36"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshuazaleski.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}It is possible to be seen and still feel invisible<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Sometimes the closed door suddenly makes sense<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
I learned early to want proof<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Living defensively changes you<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
I became more careful about how I talk about things I love<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
When a system misunderstands you, it feels bigger<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
I never forgot who I was<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
One person who truly sees you can be a lighthouse<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Not every misunderstanding deserves your life<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
I am still learning how to make peace with it<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Ask one question<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Being misunderstood made me judge people less<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
The hardest part is what it can take from the future<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Their misunderstanding controls nothing unless you hand it the controls<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
I see you<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n