08/07/2026
To Be Truly Understood
Someone who gets it,
not just the story you tell,
but the weight you carry
while telling it.
Someone who notices
the small tremor in your voice,
the pause before a smile,
the places where your heart
has learned to hide.
Someone who listens
who does not try to silence the river
They sit beside it.
They listen to the current,
the stones beneath,
the songs the water remembers.
They do not ask you
to explain every scar,
or translate every shadow
that has followed you home.
They meet you where you are:
unfinished,
unfolding,
human.
And in that meeting,
something ancient is healed,
the longing to be witnessed,
the hope that somewhere
in this vast world,
there is another soul
who looks at the whole of you
and quietly says:
I see.
I understand.
You do not have to explain.
~ 'To Be Truly Understood' by Spirit of a Hippie
✍️ Mary Anne Byrne
~ Art by Jennifer Yoswa
