"The Silence We Carry" -

Laiba Laraib

There is a silence that women know well.
It’s not the peaceful kind. Not the quiet of a morning cup of tea before the world wakes up. No, this is different. This is the silence we swallow when we have something to say but fear being called “too much.” Too loud. Too emotional. Too difficult.
It’s the silence we wrap around ourselves like a second skin, learned so early that we forget it wasn’t always there.
I remember being a little girl with a fire in my chest. I had opinions. I had questions. I had a voice that didn’t know how to whisper. But somewhere along the way, I was taught, not with words, but with looks, with sighs, with gentle pats on the head that said “not now, beta” , that my voice was inconvenient.
So I learned to shrink.
We all did, didn’t we?
We learned to make ourselves smaller so others could feel bigger. We learned to apologize for our tears, for our anger, for our needs. We learned to say “it’s fine” when it wasn’t. We learned to carry the weight of everyone else’s expectations while our own dreams sat quietly in a corner, waiting.
And we became experts at it.
We become the caretakers, the peacemakers, the ones who hold everything together while quietly falling apart inside. We smile at family gatherings when our hearts are breaking. We show up to work with confidence while doubting every word we speak. We nurture everyone around us, forgetting that we too need nurturing.
But here’s the truth I’m still learning, still whispering to myself in the mirror on hard days:
Your voice matters. Your feelings are valid. Your needs are not a burden.
I know it’s scary. I know the world doesn’t always make it easy for us. I know there are still people who will call you “dramatic” when you speak your truth, who will tell you to “calm down” when you’re passionate, who will dismiss your ambition as “too aggressive.”
Let them.
Let them misunderstand you. Let them underestimate you. That’s their loss, not yours.
Because the world doesn’t need more women who stay silent. The world needs women who speak, who write, who create, who lead, who cry openly and laugh loudly and take up all the space they deserve.
The world needs you,the real you, not the watered-down version you’ve been taught to be.
So today, I’m asking you to do something small but brave.
Say what’s on your mind. Set that boundary you’ve been avoiding. Start that project you’ve been too afraid to fail at. Choose yourself for once. Not in a selfish way, but in a way that says “I matter too.”
The silence we carry? It’s heavy. And you don’t have to carry it anymore.
Put it down, sister.
Your voice is waiting.