The You You Are

Sometimes it’s the only way we know how to hold something without breaking it.When words might shatter what’s soft, we may go quiet instead.It doesn’t mean we don’t care. It means we do.

I spent years trying to “fix” the relationship. I worked at it so hard I didn’t see the trap:I was trying so hard to change the outside world—because I didn’t know how to handle the one I actually could control.⠀When a relationship ended, I didn’t just lose “us.”I realized I had used the intimate comfort,the…

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀.Men who tell you to be strong.And then there’s the man who kneels beside it—not to clean it up,𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼’𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁—𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱…

I used to buy peace by hiding the parts of me I didn’t know how to name. I would bury my wantsuntil they disappeared—for everyone but me. If I didn’t speak,I couldn’t stumble out untruths.And my confusion wouldn’t break us. My quiet is not a request for distance,or a ploy to be cold.My quiet is…

She flinched.The world hit her first. He didn’t flinch back.He didn’t explain. He just stepped forward—and became the thing the world had to go through. ___________________________This page is for women who still wonder if a man could actually feel her—not just want her, or need her, but *get* her.Women who’ve had to carry both the…

I’m Steven.I’m a man on PEI, and I write.Not by trade, but by temperament. This page is where I put my thoughts about love, character, repair, and the kind of relationship worth building. It isn’t a quote page.It isn’t a joke.And it isn’t written by a brand. It’s just me. I’m Steven I started this…