Member-only story
When Home Doesn’t Feel Like Home Anymore
Expectations, Hidden Struggles, and the Search for Belonging
“When Home Doesn’t Feel Like Home Anymore.”
These words have followed me, lived in me, and shaped me in ways I didn’t expect. It’s a phrase that carries so much weight, a truth that hits deeper with every passing year. The more I grow, the more I realize it’s not just about a house or the walls that surround us. It’s about the feeling or the lack of it that I carry inside.
The Illusion of a Perfect Family
As a child, I believed my family was everything. They were my safe place, my foundation. I thought we were perfect our laughter, our love, our little traditions. It seemed like the ideal family. But then I grew older, and I started seeing things differently. The cracks I had never noticed before slowly became glaring. And suddenly, the world I thought was so perfect didn’t feel so perfect anymore.
I found an old diary under my bed the other day, tucked away like a forgotten secret. I read through it, and it felt like reading someone else’s pain pain I had buried deep inside. At thirteen, I didn’t have the words to explain what I was feeling, but I knew I wasn’t okay. I wasn’t okay, and I didn’t know how to make it better.