15/11/2025
Sometimes we forget this simple truth:
Not everyone is growing from the same soil we did.
Some people are learning to love themselves from a place of healing, not survival. Their confidence may feel bold, loud, or unfamiliar...
but that doesn’t make it arrogance.
It’s simply what self-love looks like when it ISN’T shaped by wounds.
We often judge others, whether adults or children, for growing in healthier ways than we did.
Because their version of love, confidence, or responsibility doesn’t resemble ours, which were shaped by hardship or survival.
When someone loves themselves from a healed place, it can look like “arrogance” to people who only learned self-love through struggle. And when children learn responsibility in a supported, safe environment, their version may look different from the harsher, survival-based responsibility we were forced to learn, and we sometimes react unfairly because we don’t recognize that difference.
At its core: We must stop projecting our wounded ways of living onto others and learn to appreciate growth that doesn’t mirror our past experiences.
And that’s the beauty of growth: it doesn’t have to look like what we knew. It doesn’t have to carry the same weight or the same pain. Healing often looks unfamiliar because it’s new, gentler, and finally safe.
So when you see someone loving themselves boldly, celebrate it. When you watch a child navigate responsibility with confidence and calm rather than fear, honor it. These moments show that the world is shifting, slowly and beautifully, toward something healthier.
Give yourself permission to evolve. Give others permission to evolve too. Growth doesn’t have to look the same to be real. It just has to be true.
With love,
Cloe
