Say the thing—early.

One of the most important skills in dating? Knowing when to speak up.

It doesn’t have to be dramatic. It doesn’t have to come with a monologue or a list of demands. But it does require courage and a willingness to risk being seen before you’re sure how it’ll land.

Most of us were taught to wait. To play it cool. To hide the parts of us that might make someone walk away.

But the longer you wait to speak your truth, the harder it gets to stay connected to yourself. You start folding. Shrinking. Convincing yourself that you can tolerate things that actually don’t feel good. And then when the honesty finally spills out, it’s either too late—or way messier than it needed to be.

Speaking up early doesn’t mean oversharing from your wounds. It means naming what’s real from your clarity.

“This is how I tend to open.”
“This is something that matters to me.”
“This is what I need in order to feel connected.”
“This pace doesn’t feel right for me.”
“I want to name something that’s been coming up.”

These aren’t ultimatums. They’re openers. 

And the right people won’t run from your truth—they’ll lean toward it. The more self-trust you build, the easier it becomes to say what you mean without over-explaining it. To communicate from regulation—not fear. To know that honesty isn’t a disruption, it’s a tool for deeper intimacy.

So if there’s something you’ve been holding back, something you keep rewriting in your head, or something you wish you had said earlier—let this be your nudge.

Say the thing.
Say it before it gets heavy.
Say it because it matters.

And yes—my upcoming offering in May will give you tools for exactly this.

More Soon,

Iryna