Learning to Notice Instead of Dissociate

Part 6 The Woman who notices

There was a version of me who survived by leaving.
Leaving the room without moving.
Leaving conversations while nodding.
Leaving my body when it all felt too loud.

Dissociation was protection.
It was clever.
It kept me safe when I didn’t know how to be.

But becoming her
the grounded one,
the aware one,
the woman who feels instead of floats away
means learning to notice.

Not judge.
Not fix.
Just notice.

Notice when my chest tightens.
Notice when my thoughts start to spiral.
Notice when my body wants to disappear.

And instead of leaving…
I stay.

I breathe.
I feel my feet.
name five things I can see.
I remind myself:
I am here.
I am safe.
This moment will pass.

Becoming her isn’t loud.
It’s not glamorous.
It’s quiet courage.

It’s choosing presence
when your nervous system is begging to run.

It’s rewiring survival into safety.
It’s turning awareness into power.

She doesn’t disappear anymore.
She notices.
She anchors.
She stays.

And that…
is healing.