It starts with a simple WhatsApp message to a previous manager. You see the double blue ticks. They’ve read it.
And then... nothing.
One hour passes. Then a day. And in that silence, something irrational and painful begins to unfold.
In this episode of The Unfolding Self, Aris and Echo explore a vulnerability that few of us admit to: Professional Rejection Sensitivity. We unpack the shame of feeling "ignored," the stories we invent when communication goes dark, and the exhausting effort of pretending we don’t care.
We discuss:
The Narrative Gap: Why our brains automatically fill silence with our deepest insecurities ("I was too annoying," "They never liked me").
Workplace Attachment: How anxious attachment styles follow us from our relationships into our careers.
The "Cool Girl" Mask: The pressure to remain stoic and unbothered, even when we feel small.
Status Anxiety: Why silence from a former authority figure feels like a retroactive invalidation of our past work.
Drawing on concepts from Brené Brown (Shame Shields) and Alain de Botton (Status Anxiety), we look at how to stop gaslighting ourselves about our feelings and move from seeking external validation to practicing internal self-compassion.
If you’ve ever spiraled over an unanswered text and then felt ashamed for caring, this episode is for you.
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AI Transparency Disclaimer: This podcast episode, including its script and thematic structure, has been developed using AI assistance (Notebook LLM). The core reflections, personal experiences, and creative direction originate from the hosts.
The Unfolding Self is a journey where vulnerability meets science. Hosted by Aris & Echo, we dismantle the "perfect" self-improvement narrative to explore the messy, real, and raw side of growth. From professional anxiety to the search for meaning, we combine personal stories with psychological research to help you understand your own unfolding.
