The Raincoat

just the version of ourselves we show the world. All of it. Who we are in the room and who we are alone in the quiet. What we built before we knew we were building anything. What we have been reaching for ever since.

Here is what we know now that we did not know four weeks ago. We have more than one kind. We reach for what the room requires. We have a favorite. And most of the time we reach for it before we even know we are reaching.

That is not a flaw. That is just what we learned. What we put on was always protection. It got us here. It kept us safe in rooms that were not always safe. We are not here to argue with any of that.

But what if we did not have to reach for it automatically. What if we could know it is there, know where it hangs, and choose it only when the situation calls for it. And leave it where it is when it does not.

That is our raincoat. A raincoat hangs by the door. We reach for it when the weather calls for it and we leave it behind when the sun is out. And when we are somewhere safe, somewhere the room can hold us, we take it off. Not because we are exposed. Because we do not need it right now.

That is the destination. Not nakedness. Not vulnerability for its own sake. Just choice. The freedom to show up differently in rooms that can hold something more.

We are not putting it down. We are just hanging it by the door where we can see it.

That is enough.

Find out where you are in your returning right now at thereturningproject.com/journey. The workbook is at thereturningproject.com/let-it-stand.

The Returning Project is a space where women reclaim who they truly are, beyond who they were told to be. New posts every Sunday.

Inward. Onward. Go.