Recognizing Distortion (The Echo Test)
Not every voice in your head is yours. Learn to tell the difference.
Distortion is tricky—because it feels familiar. It often arrives dressed in your voice, wearing your memories, and echoing your fears. But it isn’t you.
That’s why we call it the Echo. It repeats what you’ve been told by fear, trauma, shame, and programming. It mimics clarity. It mimics resonance, but it’s hollow—and it fades when you stop feeding it.
Here’s the test: When something arises in you—an impulse, a judgment, a belief—ask yourself:
“Does this feel expansive or constricting?”“Does this feel like mine—or inherited?”“Am I feeling resonance—or reaction?”
Resonance may stretch you, but it won’t crush you. It brings lightness. Stillness. A quiet knowing.The Echo brings urgency. Panic. The need to be right or protect the lie.
You’ll know you’ve heard the Echo when you realize you’ve been arguing with a ghost.
But don’t fight it. Just notice it. Call it by its name, and then let it pass like fog in the morning sun.