You Don’t Have to Be Loud to Be Powerful

This is What It Looks Like to Choose Yourself

I choose peace, healing & softness.—Sae Abiola

In a world that rewards urgency and noise, Sae Abiola chose a different path — one rooted in peace, softness, and the courage to feel deeply.

She didn’t begin writing to be read.
She began because something in her broke.
She wanted to reflect and hear her own voice again.

On April 4th [REDACTED], the day she joined Substack, something she had long looked forward to was suddenly and painfully canceled. At a crucial moment, she was left heartbroken. Like many of us, she turned inward — to the pages of her journal, to the notes on her phone, and for the first time, to a public space where her voice could echo beyond her own pain.

“I needed somewhere to vent. Somewhere to heal.”

That moment opened the floodgates. She realized how much she had been carrying — and how much she still needed to say. Not to the world itself, but to herself.
She wasn’t just writing for clarity; she was writing for survival.

As she poured her thoughts onto the page, something shifted.
Her softness, once mistaken for fragility, began to feel like strength.
Her peace, once elusive, became a sacred anchor — something she would never again be willing to lose.

But this awakening didn’t begin in a vacuum.
It came after years of trying to meet other people’s expectations.
It came after putting happiness in the hands of others.
For Sae, this was one of the most pivotal shifts that happened when she chose to step away from the pressure of marriage, childbearing, and society’s rigid timelines.

She had been in a relationship where she allowed herself to be vulnerable — sharing her fears, her health, her truth.
There were promises.
There was a future.
There was hope.

But in the end, he walked away.
And she was left shattered.

“I blamed myself. Especially my body. I thought something was wrong with me for not arriving at those ‘milestones’ on time.”

And yet, in that pain, something remarkable happened:
She paused.
She questioned everything.
And she made a radical decision to stop shrinking herself for a life that wasn’t hers.

That was the beginning of peace.

To Sae, healing doesn’t mean pain is gone.
It means remembering who you were before the world told you who to be.
It means honoring the quiet choices: setting boundaries, protecting silence, and choosing yourself over others — even when the world insists you’re not enough.

“I’m still unfolding. Still learning. Still choosing peace in the middle of pressure.”

She doesn’t write from a place of arrival.
She writes from the middle of the storm — and that’s what makes her words feel like shelter.

Still, the world doesn’t always make it easy to hear your own voice.
When outside noise gets loud, Sae has to slow down.
She retreats from social media, disconnects from expectations, and turns inward.
She allows her soul to heal from the chaos of the digital realm and their masters.

Through prayer, reflection, stillness, and writing, she asks herself an important question:

“Does this feel true to me? Or is this just what’s expected?”

Her reminder is simple but powerful:
Your pace is sacred.
You don’t owe anyone your performance.
You don’t owe the world anything.

At the heart of her process lies vulnerability.
Not as branding, but as truth-telling.

She creates from where she feels she’s still human.
She doesn’t polish the pain. She writes from it.
She writes from the cracks.

In her pieces “I Chose Peace Over Pressure and her series Thursday Whispers”, Sae opens up about love, cheating, and the profound act of choosing herself.

She even writes bravely, painfully about surviving manipulation, gaslighting, lies, and sexual abuse by someone she once trusted - someone she deeply cared.

“I chose to speak about it because I know others have lived through similar pain. And that’s what vulnerability means to me — sharing your truth, even when your voice shakes.”

Because the truth is where healing begins.

This is what choosing softness looks like in Sae’s life:
It’s how she speaks gently to herself. How she lets her heart breathe when it’s tired.
It’s refusing to harden her heart, no matter the world’s cruelty.
It’s shopping lightly, dancing freely, and cooking joyfully.
Not routines — but acts of self-respect.

In her writing, softness becomes resistance - a shield against the cruelty of this world.
It is her rebellion against shame — her commitment to care.

And in I Chose Peace Over Pressure, the message is clear:
You don’t have to live by timelines that aren’t yours.
You don’t have to perform for approval that never lasts.
You don’t have to bow to the rules of a corrupted system.

“I used to think not being married or having kids meant I had failed. I blamed my body. I held myself to a timeline that stole my joy.”

Now, she writes to remind you — something most of us have forgotten:
You matter, even when the world says otherwise.
Peace may not always be pretty, but it will always be worth it.

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You don’t have to feel alone.

We can heal together as a tribe.

Let’s start living how we think is best and not how the world tries to forces to do.

Join Soulis Media and learn how to create a space where you can share your voice, find your tribe, and own the tools you will need in your journey.

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As she continues on her journey of self-return, Sae’s work is evolving — not in volume, but in depth.
She no longer writes with the sole intention of release.
She writes to hold space. Not only for herself, but for others who feel unseen and unheard.

She dreams of expanding her work into gentle audio reflections, themed series, and perhaps even a book.

But the message will always remain the same:
Peace over pressure. Always — no matter what.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or buried beneath the noise, Sae offers you this:

Start by really listening to yourself.
Let go of timelines.
Let go of performance.
Give yourself permission to rest, to feel, to take your time.

Your peace doesn’t have to be loud — it just has to be yours.

You are not behind.
You are not broken.
You are becoming.
And that is more than enough.

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Final Words

Peace may not always look perfect. But it will always lead you home.
Keep choosing yourself — even when it’s hard, even when your voice shakes. That’s where freedom begins.