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Q: With last question you pointed me to I have come to see it’s my performative self that believes I'm responsible for maintaining a fiction so others can feel secure.

Is it possible to minimize damage to relationships when this is being deconstructed? I still feel so guilty for changing.

Aug 26, 2026
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A: You’re asking about minimizing damage, but I think you really want to know whether dismantling the performative self makes you a bad person.

The guilt you feel isn’t evidence you’re doing something wrong. It’s evidence that the identity built around relational management is dissolving.

There’s an assumption here (trained in since early childhood) that …

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