Learning to See Myself Differently
When I was younger, I thought mirrors told the truth. That the way I looked under fluorescent lights was the way the world saw me. I studied myself like a stranger trying to flatten, smooth, shrink. Trying to look like the girls who never had to explain their bodies.
But my third breast didn’t fit the image. It made the mirror feel like a spotlight instead of a reflection. I didn’t see softness, I saw flaw. I didn’t see uniqueness, I saw something I thought I had to hide.
But the mirror was never the problem. It was the voice I brought to it.
From Inspection to Intimacy
As I got older, I started looking at myself with new eyes. Eyes that weren’t trained by shame or comparison. I let myself look longer. Softer. Slower.
And in those quiet moments, I saw something different. I saw strength in the lines of my body. I saw story in the way I held myself. I saw power in the parts I used to rush past.
My third breast became less of a shock and more of a symbol — of growth, of survival, of identity. It taught me to stop looking for flaws and start looking for meaning.
Beauty That Doesn’t Beg for Permission
I don’t look at myself to measure worth anymore. I look to connect. To ground. To remember that my body is mine — not a product, not a performance, not a punishment.
And now, mirrors are places of ritual, not judgment. Places where I show up for myself. Where I practice being seen, first by me.
If You Struggle With Your Reflection
Let this be your invitation: You don’t have to wait for your body to change to love it. You can learn to see yourself now. As you are. Not in spite of what makes you different — but because of it.
👉 Want more moments of radical softness? Come hang out on Instagram @kalyaunpetittrucenplus
✨ For the intimate versions of these stories, take a peek here
💫 And if you’re curious to explore something softer and deeply personal, this is where I share it.
