Why You Shrink Around Your Relatives

Have you ever felt like two completely different people depending on where you are?

Like you’re alive when you’re with friends—dancing, joking, dreaming about the future…

But the second you walk through your parents’ door, you feel yourself shrinking.

Like you’re not allowed to bring that version of you home. You start saying things like,

“Yeah, it was okay…”

“Nothing special happened.”

“I guess it kind of sucked.”

Even when your life is going really well. It’s like… your joy gets stuck in your throat. I’ve felt this too. And I didn’t understand it for years. I thought I was being ungrateful. I thought maybe I was “too emotional.” I thought I had to just push through it. But here’s the truth no one ever said out loud: We hide our real selves around family not because we’re fake—but because we were trained to.

Let me explain.

When you were a kid, you picked up on what was safe to show and what wasn’t. Maybe when you were excited, they told you to “calm down.” Maybe when you were proud of something, they looked… uncomfortable. Or worse, they laughed. Or dismissed it. Or changed the subject.

So little you learned:

It’s better to be quiet.

It’s better to be small.

It’s better to not feel too much.

That wasn’t you being dramatic. That was you adapting. And that adaptation—if no one helps you unlearn it—can follow you for life.

Even if your parents are lovely. Even if nothing “bad” ever happened. You can still carry this split inside you. That’s what makes it so hard to name. You don’t even know you’re hiding—because it feels normal. But every time you numb out, every time you say “nothing special,” you’re quietly burying the real you. And the longer you do that, the more disconnected you feel. Not just from your family—but from yourself.

So now what?

How do you stop hiding? How do you finally let yourself be fully seen—especially in the places where you’ve always felt invisible? How do you unlearn a lifetime of being careful? And what if it’s not too late?

👉 I walk through exactly that in my newest video.

It’s a gentle but powerful breakdown of:

Why this pattern still shows up in your adult life

• What your childhood actually taught you (without blame)

• And how to finally feel safe showing up as your whole self again

  💡 The part on how to start healing begins at minute 16—and you’ll want to take notes.

🎥 Watch it here → Watch on YouTube

You don’t have to keep living in two versions of yourself.

You’re allowed to be proud.

You’re allowed to shine.

And yes—you’re allowed to come home as you.

I’ll meet you in the video. 🤍

Edith