There was a time in my life when all I wanted was to fit in\u2014and I was terrified of being alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It didn\u2019t matter where\u2014school, work, friend groups, barns, relationships\u2014you name it.
I just wanted to be accepted. Seen. Liked. Safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believed if I could blend in, I\u2019d finally belong. I wouldn\u2019t have to feel so alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I smoothed out my rough edges.
I quieted my truth.
I wore what others wore.
Said what others wanted to hear.
Molded myself into what they needed me to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I tried to be light<\/em> enough to be loved\u2014likeable, helpful, sweet. But here\u2019s the thing: the more I tried to fit in, the more invisible I became. I was surrounded by people\u2026 yet I felt deeply alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the more I abandoned myself for acceptance, the more I felt like I was slowly disappearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until one day, I just… stopped giving a hoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I realized I was never truly alone. So I stopped asking for permission. Because somewhere along the way, I realized:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The people who love me for who I really<\/em> am? And the ones who don\u2019t? So now? I wear what I want. Still galloping. Still glowing. Still giving zero hoots,<\/p>\n\n\n\n ~Marsha<\/strong> I Don’t Give A Hoot Anymore…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[21,24,30,22,46,33,25,15,28,27],"class_list":["post-1720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whispers-from-the-round-pen","tag-empowerment","tag-finding-your-truth","tag-finding-yourself","tag-healing-with-horses","tag-i-see-you","tag-journey-to-yourself","tag-mental-wellness","tag-new-blog","tag-powerful","tag-whisper-with-horses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1720"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1931,"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions\/1931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisperwithhorses.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Harmless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The more lonely I became.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I had been searching for wasn\u2019t \u201cacceptance\u201d from others\u2014it was acceptance of myself.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stopped contorting myself into someone I wasn\u2019t.
Stopped dimming my wildness, my fire, my magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t need me to be lighter, quieter, or smaller.
They love the full, unicorn version of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were never my<\/em> people to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I question myself with every interaction:
Am I being me<\/em>\u2014or who they need me to be?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say what\u2019s true.
Love hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Horses are my truth. Helping you find yours.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"