Anything you avoid in life will come back, over and over again, until you’re willing to face it—to look deeply into its true nature.
-Adyashanti
“Justice," she said. "I've heard that word. It's a cold world. I tried it out," she said, still speaking in that low voice. "I wrote it down. I wrote it down several times and always it looked like a damn cold lie to me. There is no justice.” — Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
The Cost of Staying
Sometimes it’s not that you didn’t want the job.
It’s that you wanted it too much.
You worked too hard. Put up with too much. Got good at things you never thought you’d be good at. Found your rhythm. Found your people. Maybe even started to believe you belonged there.
And then it changed.
Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe it was always like this and you just finally let yourself admit that the cost was too high.
That staying meant watching someone else get away with it. That staying meant shrinking a little bit each day. That staying meant carrying your own silence like it was professionalism. Like it was maturity. Like it was strength.
But here’s the truth no one wants to put on a poster: Sometimes leaving is the only way to protect yourself.
And that doesn’t mean you failed. It doesn’t mean you weren’t strong enough. It means the place wasn’t safe enough.
And maybe that’s not the ending you deserved, but it’s not the end of your story either.
Sometimes things happen for a reason…and sometimes your place of work is just full of mean girls.
I got fired for not “fitting in” and there was zero explanation on what that even means. I did my job well, constantly got praise, helped my team and encouraged them when they were discouraged. Over the past few months there were a few comments about my appearance and I asked what my boss meant by that and she couldn’t give me an answer. So I started to try to dress more similar to the girls in the office and wear perfumes and lotions that I knew they liked and even styled my hair in the mornings and put on makeup. Even then, I wasn’t welcome to sit with my department at the Christmas Party we were invited to. All of it was never enough and HR got involved because my boss wanted to write me up for my appearance despite all of my efforts. “Retaliation is unacceptable” is what every workplace will tell you. But the bad ones will find a way to retaliate if they don’t like what you said.
Sunday night I opened up to my fiancée about wanting to open up an online shop for readings and spells. The next day I was let go. Feels like a sign to me. They can think it hurt my feelings, but it only encouraged me more. I’m just gonna be myself and know that I am more than enough, just the way I am 🔮🖤✨
While I wish them well, Hekate knows all the details too 😉
Don’t just sit there and take what they’re saying about you. Stand up and prove them all wrong! You are more than enough, just as you are 💜
Songs hit differently after...
You don’t owe anyone a perfect story.
Maybe you forgot the exact date. Maybe your memory skips or rewinds. Maybe you didn’t document it. Maybe you didn’t tell anyone right away. Maybe you still don’t know what words to use.
That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. That doesn’t mean you’re lying. That doesn’t mean your story doesn’t count.
What happened is real. Even if it’s messy. Especially if it’s messy.
Maybe you still talk about it like it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe you laugh when you tell the story. Maybe you change the details each time, depending on who’s listening. Maybe you say “it was weird” instead of “it was wrong.”
Sometimes, survival looks like contradiction. Like forgetting on purpose. Like trying on different words until one of them feels safe enough to hold.
You don’t owe anyone a neat version of what happened. It was messy. You’re still here. That’s the truth.
“There is nothing you can throw at me that I cannot metabolize, no matter how painful or unfair or unjust."
-Maggie Nelson
📂brain dump / digital diary / untangling the knots💭 words, art, memes, chaos, clarity—whatever helps🔓 navigating the barren landscape—pot holes, craters, aftermath🫀 we believe youSubmit anything.#sexualharassment
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