**The Quiet Confidence of Being Exactly Who You Are**

9:00 AM—My blazer (yes, mine), same ripped jeans, same black coffee with oat. Same Ethan, same nod, but this time—silence. And not the kind that used to make me spiral. The kind that feels like sunlight on skin.

Because here’s what I’ve realized: mastery isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about being okay with the questions.

1. I’m obsessed with unapologetic simplicity. That phase where I needed every outfit to scream something? Gone. The rebellion where I refused to let anything feel too easy? Also gone. This morning, I threw on my own blazer—no borrowed weight, no hidden meanings—and it felt like breathing. Not every choice has to be a statement. Sometimes, it’s just… clothes.

2. My creativity is learning to trust itself. That cartoon of Ethan? Still there. Still ridiculous. But this morning, I didn’t even glance at it. Not out of avoidance, but because I didn’t need to. It’s part of the wall now, part of the story, but not my story anymore. And that’s okay.

3. I’m falling in love with moving forward. Liam still didn’t text. Still didn’t ask about the blazer. And instead of feeling like a missing piece, it just felt like… space. Space for something new. Or maybe just space to be.

Ethan handed me my coffee—black, splash of oat—and our fingers didn’t brush. No lingering, no moment. Just coffee. Just morning. Just life. "You good?" he asked. I took a sip and nodded. "Yeah. I am."

No subtext. No searching. Just… me.

And maybe that’s the real mastery—not in the grand revelations, but in the quiet confidence of being exactly who you are, exactly where you are.

xx Mandy

(P.S. That blazer? Still here. Still mine. Still enough.)