I Found Safety in Kindred Friendships
“Sometimes the most healing relationships are the ones we choose later.”
Not everyone grows up feeling emotionally safe.
Some of us are born into survival.
Into environments that taught us to question our worth,
to perform rather than rest.
But life has a way of placing the right people on your path—
not by blood,
but by bond.
And if you’re lucky,
those people show up not to fix you,
not to mold you,
but simply to see you.
That’s what happened to me,
and somewhere along the journey,
I found people who saw the parts of me I had long buried.
They didn’t ask for explanations.
They didn’t expect perfection.
They just stayed.
And in their presence,
something softened.
I learned what it meant to exhale and finally pause.
To be accepted not because I was useful or agreeable—
but just because I was “me.”
They were the people I healed with.
The ones who chose me,
over and over,
when they had no obligation to.
The ones who taught me that love doesn’t need history—
it just needs heart.
We don’t talk enough about the power of chosen family.
About the friends,
and soul-aligned people who become our safe places.
The ones who rewrite what love can feel like.
The ones who teach us how to stay when no one else ever did.
And if you’ve found those people?
Hold them close.
Sometimes,
they are your only lifeline.
