03/29/2025
Family in name is a noun. However, family in its truest state, connotatively, is a verb. It is not what you are, but what you do.
Movement can’t be forced or accomplished by merely checking off lists or making long speeches about it. Talking about movement at length does not account for actual movement. Hence, talking about family doesn’t make you a family.
We all talk family; do it for the fam, but that’s your fam, ain’t nothing like your fam. We challenge and call out people on how they family, but do we have a clear understanding, definition, or expectation of it within our “family” dynamic?
Having familial standards is a great, but if that standard is not shared within a family construct, then it’s just one persons ideas or expectations being dictated to others; it’s a blind expectation often weaponized against those who “don’t family” as expected.
Ask yourself these essential questions when you assess the family you’re prescribed to:
Do you feel heard?
Do you feel supported?
Can you be your authentic self in a safe place among empathetic people?
If you answer no, then you are among relatives, not family, and not all relatives are relatable.
Don’t get me wrong, You can still rock with relatives, but you don’t have to live up to those set standards. Make your own. That is what we call boundaries ❤️
Move in peace people.
