Letters to Viv: When They Show You Who They Are, Believe Them
Patterns speak louder than promises. Let your knowing lead the way.
Letters to Viv
Open, soul-packed letters to the kind of human I write for: the curious, creative, exhausted by the hustle, and craving something more. I’m writing to you (and me).
Dear Viv,
Some people walk into your life wrapped in poetry.
They say all the right things.
They feel familiar and magnetic and full of possibility.
And still… they can be a warning sign.
Not because you did anything wrong.
Not because you misread the situation.
But because people are always speaking to us.
With their words.
With their actions.
With their silences.
With what they choose not to say, and what they never quite show up for.
And you, you listened with your whole heart.
You loved from your wholeness.
You gave fully, honestly, with compassion, hope and trust.
Because that’s who you are.
You’re not wrong for loving them.
You’re not weak for wanting it to work. You are not naïve for seeing the good and choosing to believe in it.
That’s not weakness. That’s integrity. That’s you.
But Viv, when someone shows you who they are, believe them.
Not the version you hoped they might grow into.
Not the apology that sounds soft but changes nothing.
Not the potential you held on your back like it was yours to carry.
You saw the light in them. That matters.
But it doesn’t mean you’re meant to sit in the dark with them.
Forgiveness doesn’t rewrite what happened.
It doesn’t excuse the harm or erase the ache.
Forgiveness is for you.
It’s how you remember that your love was real. That your offering was sacred.
That you didn’t lose, you lived. And you get to keep the wholeness you brought, even if they didn’t meet you there.
Trust lives in patterns, not promises.
And patterns are truth-tellers.
So stay with yourself.
Keep your light close. Don’t let this close your heart. Don’t let this teach you to dim. Let it deepen your reverence.
Let it make you softer and stronger at the same time.
Viv, you did everything right.
You showed up in your fullness.
You led with love.
You listened.
You knew.
And now you know this too:
When someone shows you who they are…
believe them.
And then, believe yourself.
You knew.
You always knew.
xo,
Tanya
Love this: Trust lives in patterns, not promises.
And patterns are truth-tellers.