For a long time, I think I confused openness with availability.
As though being a kind person meant always being reachable.
Always being understanding.
Always leaving the gate unlocked.
But openness and access are not the same thing.
We can be warm without being endlessly available.
Honest without overexposing ourselves.
Caring without handing everyone the same level of closeness.
Some boundaries are not about shutting people out.
They are about being more thoughtful about what we allow in.
Not every closed gate is fear.
Sometimes it is discernment.
Sometimes it is self-respect.
Sometimes it is simply recognising that closeness grows through trust. It isn’t something anyone is automatically owed.
I’m not trying to become closed.
Just more conscious about where I place my time, trust and vulnerability.
Still open.
Just learning that openness and unlimited access were never the same thing.
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Fellow traveller, not guru.