What does it actually mean to be empowered and expressive? Because you can be confident enough to speak your mind and still spend your life making decisions based on what other people will think. You can have a voice and still be afraid to use it. You can know exactly what you want and still find yourself saying, “Whatever works for everyone else.” You can tell other people to be themselves while quietly editing yourself every day. So perhaps being empowered and expressive is

You know that moment when someone asks what you want for dinner and you say, “I do not mind,” even though you absolutely do? Or when you have a thought in a meeting, feel it forming, and then watch someone else speak before you because you have already decided theirs will sound better? Shrinking yourself does not always look dramatic. It can happen in tiny, almost forgettable moments. You laugh off the thing that hurt you. You say yes before checking whether you have the time