To The Ones Who Never Said A Word

Sanctuary Dispatch | Reflections from the Wild Path

The Soft Rebellion

There are so many of us.

So many women quietly holding onto stories we were never supposed to speak.

Stories we weren’t sure counted.

Stories that got shrugged off, minimized, or buried beneath layers of doubt and shame.

And for those who never said a word—you are not alone.

I’ve been there, too.

When I finally told a couple of family members what happened to me as a child, I truly didn’t know if they’d believe me. When I told my husband—and he did believe me—I thanked him. I actually said the words: Thank you for believing me.

Because belief is not guaranteed.

Because silence, for so many of us, has felt like the safer option.

I once tried to share the edges of this truth with a friend. I didn’t have all the pieces yet, just a knowing in my bones. She dismissed it. That ache stayed with me.

At a women’s retreat, I finally spoke the story out loud. And every single woman in that room had endured something similar. Every one of us. Not one had reported it. One had told her parents. It was swept away like it didn’t matter.

And that’s what keeps hitting me: how common it is, and how little has actually changed.

We had an entire global reckoning.

Remember that?

The enormity of the MeToo movement—how it flooded the world like a tidal wave.

Women naming names. Stepping forward. Lifting each other up.

It felt like a turning point.

But then the headlines faded.

The administration changed.

And somehow, so did the urgency.

How many of the men named faced real consequences?

How many stories were quietly dropped, disbelieved, or buried all over again?

It’s hard not to think about that when Ghislaine Maxwell is granted space to speak her version of things before the grand jury—while not a single survivor is invited in.

Or when Sean "Diddy" Combs is found guilty of only the lesser charges, even after harrowing testimony from multiple women who bravely laid their pain bare.

It’s a pattern.

A cycle.

And a mirror—one that keeps showing us how much easier it is to protect power than it is to believe women.

So if you’re sitting there thinking,

Yep. Me too. I never said a word...I want you to know:

You are not alone.

You are not to blame.

And your story matters—whether you ever speak it out loud or not.

Earlier this week, I shared a piece about the ways we’ve been conditioned to stay quiet—how women have been taught, generation after generation, to swallow our pain and call it survival. We looked to Medusa, not as a monster, but as a woman rewritten. If you missed it, you can find it here.

Because it’s all connected.

The silence.

The rewriting.

The ache.

But we are not broken.

We are rising.

We are learning how to hold our stories with tenderness.

How to believe ourselves—whether or not anyone else does.And how to stop carrying the shame that was never ours to begin with.

This is why I created The Soft Rebellion.

Not as a protest sign, but as a soul call.

A space where we no longer bury our truth to keep others comfortable.

A collective act of quiet strength and bold refusal.

If you’ve been feeling the ache to do something—anything—about the way this world treats women, treats truth, treats pain like it’s a nuisance instead of a wound—this is your invitation.

Join us in The Soft Rebellion: a local, heart-led chapter in the Metro Northwest area of Massachusetts, where we gather in person to reclaim voice, agency, and purpose in the face of systems that would rather keep us quiet.

You don’t have to be loud.

You just have to be ready.

🖤 [Learn more + apply to join https://www.spreadingthecheer.com/softrebellion]

Sanctuary Dispatch

Friday Reflections from the Wild Path

This is where the personal meets the political, and care becomes a form of resistance.

Each dispatch is part of The Soft Rebellion—a movement rooted in clear seeing, collective care, and the courage to act.

These reflections rise from the ground we stand on, and ripple through The Soft Rebellion: Local Chapter in Metro Northwest Massachusetts.

✨ Learn more and apply to join the local chapter:

www.spreadingthecheer.com/the-soft-rebellion