The Empty Seat

There is a chair at my table

that has never been filled.

It was meant for my brother

It was meant for my sister

It was meant for cousins and friends who once promised forever.

But year after year,

those chairs remained empty

and the part of me that longed for safe sisterhood

remained empty too.

I have been the woman who loves first.

The woman who forgives easily.

The woman who shows up even when the invitation

isn’t returned.

And, I have been the woman who

cried silently in the bath,

who smiled when I wanted to break down.

Who swallowed betrayal like a bitter seed

just to keep the peace.

But something shifted.

Maybe it was the dark feminine fire that ignited through sacred rage.

Maybe it was the Lion’s Gate, pulling truth to the surface.

Or maybe it was simply time.

I realized:

I cannot keep my life on pause

waiting for certain women to choose me.

I cannot keep my love

in the cave of my own protection.

So I am stepping out.

I am calling in soul sisters & brothers

the kind who show up with tea and laughter,

who stand in the storm with me,

who protect my name when I’m not in the room.

Because the truth is

I was never unworthy of sisterhood.

I simply hadn’t yet found my sisters.

And one day soon,

those empty seats will be filled.

Not by the ones who left,

but by the ones who were always on their way to me.

Reflection

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve shown up strong for women - how many birthdays I’ve remembered, tears I’ve held, wounds I’ve soothed, moments I’ve fiercely celebrated for them and supported them. When it was my turn to be held, the room was empty. For a long time I made that mean something about me: that I wasn’t worth holding, that my standards were too high, that I was too much or not enough.

What I know now is simpler and kinder: I was pouring into the wrong cups.

As an empath and family-oriented soul, this wound cut into the deepest layers of my being. It was exhausting to keep waiting at a table where the chairs stayed empty. So I made a different choice. I stopped chasing connection where it wasn’t offered freely. I stopped twisting myself into shapes that made other people comfortable. I stopped waiting at the empty table.

The Lion’s Gate energy has a way of pulling the truth into the light. I’m using it to release every story that told me I had to earn sisterhood. I’m replacing it with a new truth: I am already worthy, and the women meant for me are already walking my way. Safe sisterhood exists. Soul family is real. And sometimes their arrival begins with the quiet courage to close the door on what could not love you well.

If you’re reading this and your heart aches because you’ve carried the same wound…please hear me: your people are coming. There are women whose love is steady, whose presence is soft and fierce, whose loyalty is not performative but lived. The path opens the moment you choose yourself first.