🌍 What it means to have grown up with rejection by society
Growing up with societal rejection meant experiencing systemic exclusion that followed you beyond childhood—through workplace discrimination, educational barriers, and ongoing marginalization that never really stopped.
You may have learned early that mainstream society didn't make space for people like you, whether due to your identity, background, appearance, or circumstances beyond your control. Unlike other forms of rejection limited to specific relationships, this wound of unbelonging evolved and followed you into adulthood, creating a pervasive sense that you're fundamentally different from the "normal" world that others seem to navigate with ease.
You might have become an expert at spotting fellow outsiders from across the room—gravitating toward alternative spaces, subcultures, and communities where being different isn't just accepted, it's celebrated. The ongoing nature of societal discrimination may have taught you that only people who share similar experiences of marginalization could truly understand and accept you, creating both sanctuary and isolation in smaller, safer circles.