There is a particular kind of guilt that doesn't arrive with an accusation. It arrives disguised as concern. “Are you eating too much?” “You should lose some weight.” “You're getting too ambitious.” “Don't you think you should spend more time with the family?” “Why are you so sensitive?” And because the person saying it is often an aunt, a parent, a colleague, a friend—or simply someone who believes they are entitled to an opinion—we are expected to accept it as

Some of us spend a surprising amount of our lives trying to become easier to understand. We adjust how we speak. We soften our opinions. We hide the things that make us unusual. We learn which parts of ourselves are acceptable in a particular room—and which parts should probably stay outside it. And sometimes, without even realising it, we start confusing belonging with becoming someone else. That is the territory Kris Ferraro enters in Your Difference Is Your Strength.

What if you were told your greatest power isn’t out there in the world—but quietly tucked within you, just waiting to be remembered? ...