Who raised you as a child? What impact did it have on your life?

My parents. Kind of a strange upbringing from my perspective now. I was raised on “children should be seen and not heard.” There wasn’t a great deal of affection or interaction, but they seemed by one consent intent on protecting me from any harshness in the world. I had no responsibility and little guidance, rarely any consequences to my actions. I appreciate their best intentions, but I also know that my nature’s reaction to that was a lifetime of difficulty with conflict, socialization, self-worth, and a hard learning curve for adulthood. On the other hand, all that space to dream and occupy myself and the necessity of reading body language to gauge my welcome means I never lost my sense of wonder, I am never bored, I can self-soothe, and have a strong sense of empathy. A funky sort of balance maybe, but I haven’t done badly with it and I’m grateful I still have them. ❤️🙂