I’ve been sitting with something lately.

There’s a subtle but important space—a junction—between confidence and arrogance. Between staying true to a vision and being open to feedback. Between being inclusive and being assumed to be wrong because your approach doesn’t match the mainstream narrative.

I created A Positive Start to do things differently.
Not to rebel.
Not to prove anything.
But because I needed a place where lived experience could lead the way.
Where trauma-informed didn’t mean textbook—but truth.
Where safety wasn’t policy—but practice.
Where those who have always been “too much” or “too sensitive” or “too emotional” finally had a place to belong.

So when someone comes in—often with mainstream training, often well-meaning—and tells me how they would do things differently, it can be a challenge. Not because I’m closed off. But because their assumption is often that I’m wrong. That I haven’t thought it through. That their way is somehow more correct.

And this is where the tension lies.

Am I being protective? Probably.
Do I need to self-reflect? Always.
But am I arrogant? I don’t think so.
I think I’m confident in my why.
And when something is born from lived pain, careful listening, and deep intention—confidence isn’t arrogance.
It’s anchor.

That’s why I want to talk about the word inclusive.
Because sometimes people use it like a badge—without recognising what it truly means.
You can’t say you’re inclusive if you only include voices that sound like yours.
You can’t say you’re trauma-informed if you override someone’s way of working based on lived experience just because it doesn’t fit your framework.

True inclusion means making space for discomfort.
It means challenging the belief that formal training always trumps lived truth.
It means holding the paradox: “I might not understand this approach, but I trust there’s wisdom in it.”

So yes, I’ll keep reflecting.
But I’ll also keep protecting the heart of this work.
Because for people like me—and those I serve—this isn’t a concept. This is survival. This is reclamation. This is a lifeline.