but who are you at your core?

If there was no one else around
no expectations, no comparisons, no noise
what would you choose?
Who would you become?
What would you create, simply for the joy of it?

And yet, somewhere within you
beneath the habits and the roles,
beneath the stories you’ve inherited
and the ones you whisper to yourself
there is a quiet knowing.
A gentle ache.
A sense that this might not be you.

Something essential to you has been lost.
Something steady.
Something true.

Your foundation.
Your core.
The version of you that existed before the world got loud.
The one who simply was, before you learned how to be.

psychotherapist rachel eddins describes the core self as “your true self, or most authentic self.” she calls it your inner wisdom, your nurturer, your feeling self, your voice of truth.

It’s not the voice of fear,
or the echo of need.
Not the patterns you’ve repeated on autopilot for so long,
nor the thoughts that spin,
loud and fast and never still.

It’s quieter than that.
Slower.
Truer.

your core is who you are before the world told you who to be.

This is why chasing endless positivity rarely reaches the heart
because it overlooks the deeper journey of meeting your true self.
Not the version crafted to fit-in or to be liked
but the deeper, quieter self:
where your longing lives.
Where your fears soften into tenderness.
Where truth begins to speak in whispers.

To know your core self
is to be willing to feel it all -
not just the joy,
but the ache,
the tension,
the yearning.
It’s choosing to sit with your full story,
not just the glossy highlights you’ve learned to present.

And here’s the gentle truth:
the process doesn’t have to be complicated.

Yes, it may feel hard
especially in a world that rewards noise over stillness,
speed over depth
but the return to your core doesn’t need to be loud,
or fast,
or dramatic.

In fact, it’s often disarmingly simple.
so simple, we almost miss it.
We rush past it,
searching for faster ways,
more efficient tools,
louder fixes.

But real connection?
It takes time.
Presence.
A soft kind of patience.

Because when you begin to really listen -
beneath the masks you’ve worn,
beneath the story you’ve clung to,
beneath the life you've carefully built to be enough -
you may hear something surprising.
A small truth rising:
You’ve been living out of step with yourself.

And yes, that’s frightening.
To realise how far you’ve wandered.
To admit how long you've been performing.

But this awakening doesn’t have to be a firestorm.
You don’t have to tear it all down.
You can begin gently,
like a tide turning.
A quiet, steady return to what is real.

This is the beginning of a well-curated life -
not curated to impress,
but to feel like home.
Not just beautiful on the outside,
but deeply aligned within.

A life where your energy no longer scatters,
but gathers itself with purpose.
With balance.
With peace.
Not someone else’s definition of success.
Not what looks good to the outside
but what feels like truth in your bones.

the journey to your true core. and that’s that’s where we all need to begin