I’m No Longer Closed to Love

There was a time when I didn’t even realise I’d closed the door.

It wasn’t one big moment — it was small, subtle decisions.
Protect myself here. Shut down there.
Stay quiet. Stay safe. Don’t hope for too much.

And I told myself it was strength.
That I was discerning. Empowered.
But underneath it, if I’m honest, I was afraid.

Afraid of needing something I couldn’t guarantee.
Afraid of opening, only to be met with silence, or worse — someone who couldn’t meet me.
Afraid of becoming soft again in a world that had rewarded my hardness.

But lately, something in me has shifted.

Not because someone came and proved they were safe.
Not because I figured it all out.
But because I stopped looking for safety out there, and started rebuilding it in here.

I realised I was treating love like a risk I couldn’t afford.
But love — real love, in all its forms — doesn’t take. It expands.
It softens without weakening. It asks you to stay open, even when it’s uncomfortable.

And so I made a decision:
I’m no longer closed to love.

Not just romantic love — but love in its truest sense.
Love as presence. Love as self-respect.
Love as the way I hold space for others.
Love as the way I allow myself to be held.

There’s no fanfare to this kind of shift.
Just a quiet knowing that I’m done living with the armour on.

If you’ve been holding your breath, waiting for a sign that it’s safe to open again…
Maybe this is it.

You’re allowed to want love.
You’re allowed to receive it.
You’re allowed to be soft and strong.
You’re allowed to be held — without apology.
And maybe today… that starts with you.

What would it look like to open, just a little more, to the love that’s already here?

Feeling this?

This is the kind of space I hold in my work with wāhine Māori. Not to fix you — but to help you come home to the version of you that’s always been whole.

If this resonates and you’re curious about working together, you can explore how we might do that here. I’d love to walk alongside you.