Finding
Myself Again

I kept coming back.

The sessions helped, and so did the women around me. I found comfort in sitting together, talking, listening, and realizing that I did not have to carry all this heaviness by myself. Time passed by, I felt some of the heaviness begin to ease.

I remember I used to step into one of the spaces at the center to take photos of myself. Ward, the center manager, would look at me and say, “You’re breathtaking.”

I never believed her. Still, her words followed me home. I would stand in front of the mirror and look at myself for a little longer than usual, almost trying to understand what she was seeing that I could not.

“

One day, Ward joked with me: “Change your clothes. Put on some makeup. Wear perfume. Do something you like.”

That evening, I was preparing dinner, and her words kept circling in my head. She was right. Somewhere along the way, I had stopped doing even the smallest things for myself.

At the next session, I arrived wearing something new and makeup I liked. Ward noticed immediately. She was happy to see me, and I remember feeling happy with myself as well.

Nothing extraordinary had happened. I simply chose something I liked, for myself.

That small choice meant more to me than it might seem.

Today, I am waiting for the center to offer a beauty course. I want to join, learn properly, and work in a field I already feel drawn to.

I came to the center looking for somewhere to escape for a while. I stayed long enough to start finding myself again.