My Intuition = My Compass.
I grew up being told exactly what my life was supposed to look like. The community I was raised in as a Jehovah’s Witness came with a clear roadmap: who I should be, what I should believe, how I should act, and even who I should love.
But deep down, I knew I was never meant for the life they told me I would live.
From a young age, I felt like a square trying to fit into a circle. No matter how hard I tried, it never felt right. I remember sitting in Kingdom Halls and Bible studies full of people and feeling a quiet voice inside me saying: This isn’t where you belong.
The first time I truly heard that voice louder than ever was when I was thirteen. I had just started high school, and my eyes were opening to the outside world. I was a quiet teen who listened more than I spoke. I discovered classes like creative writing, computers, and typing. I learned about careers. I saw possibilities.
I didn’t want to be a pioneer or a missionary… there were so many other options.
That inner voice, my intuition, just kept getting louder. It was the only thing that felt honest. It knew me deeply, it knew I had the drive and determination to seek out who I truly was meant to be.
At sixteen, I made the hardest and bravest decision of my life: I left. I left home. I left the religion. I left behind the only world I had ever known. From the outside, it probably looked reckless. From the inside, it was survival. It was me choosing to trust myself, even without proof that everything would be okay.
The years that followed weren’t easy. Building a life on your own at that age comes with a lot of uncertainty, and there were many times I questioned whether I’d made a huge mistake. It was lonely. I had friends who knew my circumstances, but I don’t think they ever fully understood.
I had to grow up fast. While most of my peers were worried about dances and grad, I was making plans. I had a job. I paid rent. I stayed in school, determined to graduate and move to the city.
Looking back now, I realize that decision, to follow my intuition rather than the path laid out for me… it shaped everything. It taught me resilience. It taught me that I could stand on my own. And it taught me that even when I don’t feel like I fit, I can still belong - to myself, to the life I create, to the people I choose.
Intuition has become my compass. It’s not always the loudest voice, but it’s the truest. And I’ve learned that when you build your life from that place, you end up somewhere far more beautiful than any roadmap could have taken you.
