The Noticing Practice (Aug 12, 2022)

Things I notice. An incomplete list. Free-written. Unedited.

Rachel Clifton
3 min readAug 12, 2022

Hi again, friends.

Photo by v2osk on Unsplash

My body hurts.
My heart is full.
My eyes are tired.
I am transitioning.

“I don’t know how open I want to be with you all.”

But that’s a lie. I do, I do, I do.

I’m just so fucking tired of my own self-judgement.

I know how fucking open I want to be. I’ve known forever.
But (and) I value me. I value feeling safe with me.
And I notice, humbly, where & how I can still be (gently) pushed off-kilter.
I notice, humbly, where I give others — external factors — power over me.
I notice. I sit with it. I forgive.

This is what’s alive for me: I find it so hard to be misunderstood.

I don’t find it hard to be self-expressed. But maybe that’s a lie.

Because I definitely [still] find it hard to live in a world of other people’s responses to that [sometimes].

We are but mirrors. These endless reflections. We need role models, guides. I feel I sometimes find it hard to find them.

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Rachel Clifton
Rachel Clifton

Written by Rachel Clifton

Perennially irreverent. Gently fierce. Fiercely loving. A thing of beauty, work of art & human being, just like you. https://bio.site/rachelclif.

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