Adventures of the Traveling Grief Case

On vulnerability, oversharing, and being deeply human

You ever wonder what it’s like
to be fully seen?

Not just noticed.
Not admired from a distance.
But understood — on a soul level.

So many of us are multifaceted and multilayered.
And most people only ever see parts of us —
not because they don’t want to,
but because they simply can’t.

There are people who try.
Some more than others.

It’s funny — people often tell me how vulnerable my writing is.
Others think I share too much.
That I’m too open.

But I’m just being me.
And if that makes someone uncomfortable,
that isn’t my responsibility.

For most of my life, I’ve felt like I was constantly translating myself — softening my words, adjusting my tone, editing who I was
depending on who I was speaking to.

It took me a long time to realize
that people can only see as far as their own vision allows.
Not because they don’t care.
Not because they don’t want to understand.
But because vision is shaped by experience.

I think of it like a kaleidoscope.
We all look through different lenses —
family roles, lived experiences, sensitivity, trauma, resilience.
We’re all turning the same object,
but seeing completely different patterns.

Not everyone knows how — or is willing — to turn the kaleidoscope
and see another version of the picture.

Some people can.
We call them empaths.
Highly sensitive people.
The ones who feel more, notice more, carry more.

Others live differently in their bodies.
They react to the world differently.
Neither is wrong.
Just different.

And those differences are what make us
both beautiful
and complicated.

I’ve been told I overthink.

Sometimes I wonder —
do you just underthink?

Is overthinking really a problem?
Only when it turns into fear.
Only when it disconnects us from ourselves.

Here’s the confession part:

I’m not vulnerable in my writing
to make anyone else comfortable.
I’m not doing it to over-inform or over-explain.

I’m vulnerable in my writing
because it’s the one place
I can fully be me.

Sometimes, I’m brave enough to share that.

Because so many times in my life,
I haven’t felt fully seen.

I’ve learned how rare it is
to find your people —
the ones who don’t project, assume, or reduce you.

We all have different friends who see different sides of us.
And strangers who think they know us at all.

But how often do people really take the time
to see you — fully?

All I know is this:
when you find the people who feel you,
who understand without needing you to perform or explain,
who accept you exactly as you are —
without assumptions or expectations —

those are your people.

Those are the ones you hold onto.

I cherish them.
I love them.

Because at the end of the day,
nothing matters more than being loved, valued,
and truly understood.