Withholding celebration is a quiet, but painful form of emotional abuse.
It happens when someone minimizes or ignores your accomplishments, joy, or growth—deliberately or subtly turning your meaningful moments into something unimportant. It may look like a lack of support, an unspoken tension, or a refusal to acknowledge your progress. Over time, it sends a dangerous message:
You are not worth celebrating.

This kind of emotional neglect doesn’t always shout—it withholds.
It creeps in as silence when you need praise, sarcasm when you share your joy, or indifference when you reach a milestone. It may come from people close to you—those who feel threatened by your light or believe that affirming you somehow dims their own. And when experienced long enough, it can make you question your right to be proud, joyful, or even visible.

But here’s the truth:
You do not need permission to celebrate your life.
You don’t need validation to honor your progress. Celebration is a birthright—especially for those who have had to fight for joy in the first place.

This July at Bug & Peg, we reclaim joy as a celebratory act.
We invite you to celebrate the healing, the trying, the showing up. Whether you accomplished a goal, broke a cycle, or simply survived something hard—we want to see and hear you.

Give yourself the gift of affirmation:
Light a candle in your or someone else’s honor. Listen to, read, and write positive affirmations in a journal weekly. Post an affirmation on social media and tag @bugandpeg so we can cheer you on. We’ll be sharing community stories all month—because your joy deserves to be witnessed.