Cody, it's as if a courageous, powerful, humble, wise part of you had been in hiding for many, many years, and a traumatic event at the hands of ignorant (one could argue EVIL) people allowed these qualities to almost literally erupt in a geyser of insightful questions, on April 13, 2023. It's like a rebirth that had been a long time coming.
Absolutely freakin' brilliant. Thank you for sharing all this.
You’ve taken the myth of safety and set it aflame with kindness. That’s rare. Most people rip illusions with bitterness. You peeled this one back like a veil, soft and devastating.
What if the real danger was never risk, but obedience? What if safety was just the dull hallway where ambition and brilliance go to die under fluorescent lights and entitlement?
You want to talk about regret? Let’s talk about every office corridor I walked down where my intelligence was treated as a threat, and my body as open invitation. Every man who mistook my insight for foreplay. Every woman who learned to smile while sharpening her knives because the hierarchy only makes room for one of us at a time.
What if the real question is: what would we be if we stopped dimming ourselves for comfort, for acceptance, for survival?
Amen, brother. The rawness, the clarity, the refusal to be erased—it’s all here. And I think you nailed something that doesn’t get said enough:
** When the system tries to break you, the real rebellion is reclaiming your voice.**
There’s no HR process for sovereignty. No severance package for your soul. The only “title” that matters is the one you claim when you refuse to disappear.
The best fight against a broken, gaslighting, corporate machine is to stop outsourcing your worth and start building something rooted in clarity, presence, and power. That’s what you did here. And it matters.
Love the inquisitive questions. This approach looks to a future informed by past grounded in the present. Statements are often closed distancing distracting.
Thanks so much for sharing this. Often the best writing we do is when it’s written for ourselves first. You captured that in “I wrote this. Not to inspire anyone. Just to survive myself” but now it can do both!
Sounds like a hellish job. I felt overworked, underpaid, and undervalued for several years in my job. Becoming a freelance writer was a severe drop in pay, but I was much happier. I hope you are too.
I love how you shared that journal Entry you wrote!! How vulnerable and how amazing!! I love that you were able to write that right after being terminated!! Pretty incredible!! Its really amazing to read about your journey!! I love how authentic you are, how real and how passionate!! Really wonderful peice!! Its incredibly inspiring and very moving!!
Thank you Tara. It’s something I felt was worth sharing. When anxiety creeps up on me I tend to “what if” all the negatives. This was flipping that upside down for me.
Brilliant realization . . . and, like so many others I'm sure . . . having labored under idiocracy at a few points in my career . . . my encounter with aggressive incompetence led to a breakthrough that changed my life for the better. Reading your beautiful pondering in "What If" reminded me of my own version of such a moment. May your "Ah-ha" lead you to glorious places.
Cody, it's as if a courageous, powerful, humble, wise part of you had been in hiding for many, many years, and a traumatic event at the hands of ignorant (one could argue EVIL) people allowed these qualities to almost literally erupt in a geyser of insightful questions, on April 13, 2023. It's like a rebirth that had been a long time coming.
Absolutely freakin' brilliant. Thank you for sharing all this.
Thank you so much Larry
You’ve taken the myth of safety and set it aflame with kindness. That’s rare. Most people rip illusions with bitterness. You peeled this one back like a veil, soft and devastating.
What if the real danger was never risk, but obedience? What if safety was just the dull hallway where ambition and brilliance go to die under fluorescent lights and entitlement?
You want to talk about regret? Let’s talk about every office corridor I walked down where my intelligence was treated as a threat, and my body as open invitation. Every man who mistook my insight for foreplay. Every woman who learned to smile while sharpening her knives because the hierarchy only makes room for one of us at a time.
What if the real question is: what would we be if we stopped dimming ourselves for comfort, for acceptance, for survival?
What if fear didn’t make our choices, power did?
Thank you 😊
Amen, brother. The rawness, the clarity, the refusal to be erased—it’s all here. And I think you nailed something that doesn’t get said enough:
** When the system tries to break you, the real rebellion is reclaiming your voice.**
There’s no HR process for sovereignty. No severance package for your soul. The only “title” that matters is the one you claim when you refuse to disappear.
The best fight against a broken, gaslighting, corporate machine is to stop outsourcing your worth and start building something rooted in clarity, presence, and power. That’s what you did here. And it matters.
Thank you Alexis!
Love the inquisitive questions. This approach looks to a future informed by past grounded in the present. Statements are often closed distancing distracting.
Thank you Kim
💯 All of that. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Thank you.
What it gave was tears. Painful tears, because I read some of myself in there.
Thank you. I'm glad it resonated. Truly.
That’s powerful because usually the words we say after “what if…” are negative, but in this they are positive
Thank you Haven!
Thanks so much for sharing this. Often the best writing we do is when it’s written for ourselves first. You captured that in “I wrote this. Not to inspire anyone. Just to survive myself” but now it can do both!
This touched me. Ty.
I feel all of this. I’ve had a similar, not as bad, experience with a job and it really makes you question everything.
Hit enter too soon. 😂 Anyways - love what you shared here. Honest, real and still optimistic. Exactly what we need more of in this world.
Thank you Holli I really appreciate that!
Sounds like a hellish job. I felt overworked, underpaid, and undervalued for several years in my job. Becoming a freelance writer was a severe drop in pay, but I was much happier. I hope you are too.
There is so much power in knowing that you have so many possibilities, and so many choices.
Now that, is reclaiming. That is what taking your power back feels like. 🦋
"What if you stopped trying to prevent yourself from overflowing?" This line hit the strongest for me
Thank you Stephanie!!!!
That's powerful.
Thank you for writing this.
Such questions are needed.
I love how you shared that journal Entry you wrote!! How vulnerable and how amazing!! I love that you were able to write that right after being terminated!! Pretty incredible!! Its really amazing to read about your journey!! I love how authentic you are, how real and how passionate!! Really wonderful peice!! Its incredibly inspiring and very moving!!
Thank you Tara. It’s something I felt was worth sharing. When anxiety creeps up on me I tend to “what if” all the negatives. This was flipping that upside down for me.
Brilliant realization . . . and, like so many others I'm sure . . . having labored under idiocracy at a few points in my career . . . my encounter with aggressive incompetence led to a breakthrough that changed my life for the better. Reading your beautiful pondering in "What If" reminded me of my own version of such a moment. May your "Ah-ha" lead you to glorious places.
Thank yoU!