On Shame, by Quetzal

Art by Jaiva Sicke

Shame has been on my mind quite a bit lately, in particular ways that shame gets used as a tool to keep us disconnected from ourselves and each other.

I’m lucky to lead and share spaces exploring this theme with girls and women of all ages. While decades separate many of us, I can’t unsee the parallels and similarities in the stories where shame governs us. The details and names in our stories may be different, but the core feelings are the same - isolation, pain, and secrecy.

Brene Brown defines shame as “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging”. Unlike guilt, shame doesn’t attach to...

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