Summary:

We discuss the consuming feeling of being "behind". We talk about the sense of constantly improvising adulthood and running late because we missed the "invisible curriculum of girlhood" that others seemed to inherit. We acknowledge the reliance on external sources like Google and random online discussions to learn basic skills, which makes our pace feel wrong. We emphasize the truth that we are not behind; we are building ourselves from the ground up. We reframe this necessity not as a failure, but as resilience, survival, and resourcefulness. We conclude that our pace is a foundation, recognizing that girls who grow slowly grow deeply, and that our big future simply requires us to be steady, not fast.

Key Quotes:

• "You're not behind. You're just building yourself from the ground up."
• "It takes time to build things that you didn't inherit."
• "Girls who grow slowly grow deeply."
• "Big futures don't require fast people. They require steady people."

Episode Breakdown

[0:00] We open the episode by discussing the consuming feeling of being "behind" in life, whether it’s in healing, confidence, or adulthood, a feeling often experienced by girls who grew up without a guiding woman around them. We note that growing up without feminine influence disrupts our internal timeline, making us feel like we are "winging literally everything" while others were "handed these instructions".

[1:00] We talk about the feeling of running behind the group, chasing milestones we didn't know existed. We reflect on the confusion of wondering how everyone else knows basic skills, such as how to do their hair, set boundaries, or talk kindly to themselves. We discuss having to rely on Googling things, which makes our self-taught pacing feel slow and "off".

[1:45] We share the essential truth that we are not behind; we are just building ourselves from the ground up. We compare life to a race where some people had help "tying their laces," while we had to figure out what shoelaces even were.

[2:30] We affirm that having to teach ourselves is not shameful or a failure; it is resilience, survival, and resourcefulness. We discuss the "invisible curriculum of girlhood" (including feminine confidence, self-soothing, and understanding emotions) that we missed and had to learn later from YouTube, TikTok, and trial and error.

[3:15] We conclude that timing is not a reflection of our worth, intelligence, or potential; it just means our path is different. We emphasize the importance of letting the idea sink in that girls who grow slowly grow deeply, growing with intention, awareness, and depth.

[4:00] We observe that people rarely see the silent work we are doing every day, including the late-night overthinking, the emotional skills learned from scratch, and the old habits we are unlearning. We confirm that this slow momentum is progress, growth, and momentum.

[5:00] We reassure the audience that they are not stuck or failing; they are becoming, and becoming takes time. We conclude that our big future is not going to disappear, as big futures require steady people, not fast people.

[5:45] We finish with a note to the audience: Our past shapes us, not defines us. We affirm that every step forward is progress and that our life is still unfolding, our timing is still valid, and our huge future is waiting for us at our pace.