Social scripts vs. what feels true

I have realized something about myself.

People often ask me, "Why don't you come to weddings? Don't you want to celebrate your cousin's happiness?"

And every time, I struggle to answer. Not because I don't have an answer — but because the real answer is difficult to explain.

It's not because I don't love my family. It's not because I don't care. It's because I find it hard to participate in something that doesn't feel true to me.

For many people, weddings are beautiful celebrations — love, memories, traditions, togetherness. I genuinely respect that.

When celebration feels like social scripts

But for me, they often feel like social scripts.

Clothes you would never normally wear. Conversations you would never normally have. Relatives you barely know. Smiles wider than you feel. Spend you didn't plan for. Rituals you never chose.

Not because the heart says so. Because log kya kahenge. Because aise hi hota hai. Because nibhana padta hai.

I'm not the only one. Many people walk into these spaces and immediately feel like they're acting — performing a role instead of expressing themselves.

The struggle isn't with celebrating people. The struggle is with living a life that feels borrowed.

What celebration actually looks like

I'd happily spend an evening with the people I love — talking, laughing, sharing stories, fully present. That feels like celebration to me.

Celebration isn't measured by the number of guests. It's measured by the depth of connection.

We confuse appearance with presence. We perform love instead of expressing it.

I'm not saying weddings are wrong. I'm saying they're not true for me in the way they're often practiced.

Bigger than weddings

Most of our lives are built on social scripts. Study this. Get this job. Earn this much. Marry this way. Live this way. Question little. Repeat what came before.

Some people are perfectly happy living that way. Others slowly lose themselves. I belong to the second group.

Every time I choose acceptance over authenticity, I feel myself disappear a little. So today, I choose differently.

Choosing alignment

Some people will disagree. That's okay. I'm not saying my way is the right way — I'm choosing to live in alignment with what feels true to me.

Every time I fit in by pretending, I lose a little bit of myself. Slowly, you stop living your own life. You start performing someone else's.

The cost of fitting in is becoming a stranger to yourself.

I'd rather disappoint expectations than disappoint my own soul.