My hard truths.

On true things about myself that I have a hard time facing, but wanted to share with the world.

In March of 2022, I temporarily posted to an anonymous Instagram page under the handle "herhardtruths.” At the time, I wrestled daily with the hard truths I was finding hard to navigate about myself. On this page, I would post two graphics at a time. The first detailed the hard truth that I was facing. And the second was an affirmation of the opposite that I wanted to be true.

One thing that I have learned about writing deeply personal thoughts and feelings is that sometimes our hard truths are hard to face and serve as a mental block. Sometimes, the only way to get those hard truths out or acknowledge them is to separate yourself from them. Not in a form of denial or avoidance, but a way to release the weight of those words in the moment by assigning them to whichever pronoun you use. So instead of saying “I woke up wanting to die today,” I would instead write “She woke up wanting to die today.” Of course, I knew I was talking about myself, but the words flowed a bit more freely when I could disconnect from them. This is just one of many techniques that have improved my writing practice, thanks to

GG Renee Hill

.

While doing some digital decluttering (I feel like I’m in a perpetual state of decluttering), I came across the file where I kept the posts from that page and wanted to share them here. Mainly because I am proud of my growth and being able to own and openly share things that I once, and sometimes still do, felt were too shameful to share.

I hope that by sharing my hard truths with you, you are able to own and/or share yours as well. Even if only with yourself.

🌞