Readjusting to Freedom: Reclaiming My Voice After Narcissistic Abuse

“Surviving wasn’t the end — it was the beginning of remembering who I was before the storm ever touched me.”

— Spokn | The Survivor’s Pen

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When you walk out of the wreckage of narcissistic abuse, the world feels… different.

Louder.

Heavier.

Emptier in some places, overflowing in others.

You expect to feel free — and you are — but freedom has its own kind of readjustment.

Freedom is not just leaving the abuser behind.

It’s learning how to trust your own voice again after it’s been gaslit, twisted, minimized, and shamed.

It’s recognizing that you no longer have to shrink to survive.

You don’t have to second-guess every word, every move, every dream.

You’re allowed to exist fully now.

You’re allowed to be too much — too loud, too soft, too sensitive, too brave — without apology.

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The Voice She Buried

Once, there was a little girl who spoke in songs,

who colored outside the lines,

who dreamed loudly without fear.

Then came the hands that silenced,

the looks that shamed,

the rules that broke her into smaller pieces.

She buried her voice like a treasure —

not because it wasn’t worthy,

but because the world wasn’t ready.

Today, she digs it back up with trembling hands,

dusts off the dirt,

holds it to the sunlight,

and says:

I will not apologize for the space I take.

I earned this oxygen.

I earned this light.

I earned this life.

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There’s no shame in needing time to reorient yourself.

After all, survival was a battle.

And now, you’re learning how to live without armor.

Optimism might not come overnight.

Some days, it feels forced. Some days, it feels foreign.

But every time you choose hope, even when fear whispers otherwise, you are reclaiming something sacred.

You are not broken —

you are becoming.

You are not behind —

you are building.

You are not lost —

you are learning to trust your own compass again.

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Healing after narcissistic abuse isn’t about pretending it didn’t happen.

It’s about choosing yourself louder than the lies they taught you.

It’s about believing in possibilities again —

in new beginnings, in real love, in your own voice leading you home.

And Queen —

Your voice is still yours.

It always was.

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If you are walking this readjustment season too,

I invite you to join The Survivor’s Pen — a space where our scars are not hidden, but honored,

where our voices rise together.

Subscribe and Heal With Me Here

~Spokn