🏠What it means to have grown up with family social isolation
Growing up with family social isolation meant your family was treated as "different" or "less than" because of who you were, making you question whether you truly belonged anywhere.
You may have learned early that certain places and people weren't welcoming to your family, creating an invisible map of where you could go and who you could be okay with. Your survival depended on detecting subtle shifts in tone, micro-expressions, and the things left unsaid. You became a master at reading rooms and people, developing an almost sixth sense for social dynamics that others completely miss.
Rather than keep chasing acceptance from people who never gave it to you, you may have made a crucial self-worth decision: you stopped trying to connect with those who made you feel bad about yourself. You learned to spot your people from across the room—fellow outsiders who carry that same knowing look of someone who's been marginalized. But this protective strategy came with relationship costs, as you now write off potential partners before they've had a chance to truly know you.