Zanele Nyembe
Bio
For the ones who stay strong in silence—I see you. I write what others are afraid to say out loud. If you've ever felt invisible, abandoned, or quietly powerful, this space is yours.
Stories (23)
Filter by community
He Took Everything... Now I’m Taking Myself Back
I didn’t miss him. I missed me. I missed the version of myself before he made me feel invisible. Before I had to second guess every word I said. Before I started apologizing for existing. I missed how I used to laugh. Loud, unfiltered. I missed how I used to dance in the kitchen with no one watching. I missed how my phone wasn’t a bomb waiting to explode with mood swings. He didn’t take just my time. He took my softness. My spark. My sleep. My safety. And when I tried to get it back, He gaslit me. Told me I was too emotional. Too much. Too loud. Too sensitive. So I began to shrink. To fit the version he could love. But here’s what no one tells you: The person you become for survival isn’t the one you were born to be.
By Zanele Nyembe6 months ago in Humans
What I Did When My Body Gave Up Before My Dreams Did
There’s a war that happens behind the scenes. It doesn’t trend on social media. It doesn’t look glamorous. It happens in the quiet moments, when your mind is still chasing purpose but your body is waving a white flag. I was that person. The one with the late-night dreams, the endless to-do lists, the goals that made my eyes light up. But then something happened. My body stopped keeping up. And it nearly cost me everything.
By Zanele Nyembe6 months ago in Lifehack
They Didn’t Love Me But the Idea of Me
There’s a special kind of heartbreak that comes from realizing they never actually loved you. Not your soul. Not your flaws. Not your truth. Just… the version of you that was easy to digest. The idea of you. The highlight reel version. The one that laughs at their jokes, stays quiet in arguments, shows up even when tired. They didn’t fall for your truth. They fell for your performance. And when you stopped performing? They left. This is that story.
By Zanele Nyembe6 months ago in Motivation
The Day My Heart Broke Was the Day My Soul Finally Woke Up
I never knew you could love someone so deeply and still lose yourself in the process. No one warns you about that kind of heartbreak. The kind that doesn’t just steal your joy, but your sense of self. That heartbreak wasn’t about one person leaving, it was about me slowly disappearing in the name of love.
By Zanele Nyembe7 months ago in Motivation
I Gave Him Everything-He Still Chose Her
There is a grief that doesn’t wear black. It doesn’t come with condolences, or casseroles, or whispered sympathy. It doesn’t have a funeral. It doesn’t end with goodbye. It just lingers—quiet, invisible—and somehow, it finds a home in your chest. It starts with a boy. Doesn’t it always?
By Zanele Nyembe8 months ago in Confessions
I Was Just an Option — But He Was My Everything
There’s a special kind of ache that comes from being an afterthought to someone who’s your everything. It doesn’t arrive all at once. It builds. Quietly. At first, it’s the unanswered messages. The postponed plans. The subtle shift in energy. You feel it before you name it — a gentle ache in your chest every time he pulls away and calls it “being busy.”
By Zanele Nyembe8 months ago in Confessions
Why Strong Girls Fall for Emotionally Unavailable People
I used to think I was too smart to fall for the wrong person. Too self-aware. Too emotionally literate. Too “strong.” But I did. And not just once. I kept falling for the ones who couldn’t love me. The ones who looked at my heart like it was too much. The ones who withheld softness like it was a privilege I hadn’t earned. The ones who flinched when I offered closeness. The ones who loved me with distance.
By Zanele Nyembe8 months ago in Motivation
I Didn’t Know I Was People-Pleasing My Pain Away
I didn’t always know I was people-pleasing. I just thought I was being good. The child in me had learned early that love wasn’t guaranteed, it was earned. Earned by being useful. Earned by being small. Earned by being the easiest person in the room to love, because she asked for nothing in return. So I became that girl. The one who smiled when she was breaking. The one who gave even when she was empty. The one who learned to anticipate everyone else’s needs before they had to ask because maybe, just maybe, if I gave enough of myself, someone would stay.
By Zanele Nyembe8 months ago in Motivation
The Day I Realized No One Was Coming to Save Me
There’s a moment in every woman’s life when silence grows loud. When you sit in your own stillness and realize no one is coming. Not your friends. Not the one who said they’d never leave. Not even the version of you you’ve been clinging to just to keep going. I remember that moment vividly.
By Zanele Nyembe8 months ago in Motivation
