A Letter on Being Known

This life asks us to begin at the beginning over and over again. We walk into new places and offer our names, our stories, the pieces of ourselves that make sense in the moment. We explain who we are, clarify how we fit, and build understanding from the ground up, one conversation at a time, until something like familiarity begins to take shape. We become practiced at it—learning how to connect quickly, how to find our footing, how to create something meaningful even when we know it may not last forever.

And yet, there is something quietly wearing about always beginning there, about always being the one who must explain.