The Ghost of Love

And the Voice You Need to Hear Instead

Sometimes the hardest part of love isn’t finding it—it’s learning to listen to the quiet voice beneath the noise.

There is a voice that visits you

when you’re alone.

It whispers:

You were too much.

You should’ve stayed.

Maybe this was your last chance.

Maybe love is supposed to feel like this—

doubtful, distant, almost enough.

That voice is not love.

That voice is a ghost.

The echo of people who taught you

to fear loneliness more than mistreatment.

The memory of parents who stayed together

but never truly met.

The weight of past lovers who mistook your boundaries

for arrogance, your depth for drama,

your clarity for coldness.

That ghost wants you small.

Quiet. Easy to keep.

But you were not made for half-loves

and breadcrumb hope.

Here is the truth, the voice of real love:

You are not too much.

You are just no longer willing

to bleed for people who bring knives.

You are not hard to love.

You are finally refusing to make yourself

smaller to be chosen.

You are not alone because you’re unworthy.

You are alone because you are healing,

because your standards have risen

to match the woman you’ve become.

And yes—it’s okay to miss people

who didn’t deserve you.

It’s okay to feel grief

when you walk away, even when

you know it’s right.

But don’t confuse that ache

with regret.

It’s just the sound

of a cycle ending.

Let the ghost speak.

Then let it pass.

And when it does,

choose to believe the quieter voice underneath:

The one that says, Keep going.

The one that says, There is nothing wrong with you.

The one that says, You are not too late for love—

you’re just on time for your own.

The fact that this voice is quieter

is exactly why it’s the voice of truth.

“Don’t fear the walk alone. Don’t fear to love it so.“

—Vanessa Liu