The need to justify the existence of anything is the projection of our need to justify ourselves and our own lives. Yet, no one’s asked you to do that.

Psychological power-seeking is a reactive defense mechanism triggered by a perceived lack of existential safety. Contrary to the predatory archetype, individuals exhibiting dominant behaviors operate from a state of hyper-vigilance to mitigate deep-seated vulnerability. This “Power Mask” functions as a performance-based security system that incurs a metabolic and psychological cost known as the Tax of…

With this destiny of failure comes unneeded guilt simply because we believe that we could have steered differently.

You have an important email to send. You double- and triple-check to make sure everything is good to go. Finally, you hit send, and then you see it. There’s a subtle typo in the subject line. The reaction is visceral. There’s a sharp pain in the chest, and a hollow feeling in the stomach. There’s…

We call the confident person superficial because we can’t imagine anyone who doesn’t need external validation. However, the only thing that’s truly hollow is the person willing to lose themselves to keep the peace.

When we cater to another person’s whims, neuroses, or demands, we are not serving them. We are using these actions as a negotiation against fear. It’s used as a defense mechanism to make sure their ego survives. This is, in turn, selfishness, not selflessness.

To feel envy is to believe that success is a pie. If others get a piece of the pie, there’s less left for you. You’re essentially believing that love is a finite resource, and love has forgotten about you.

We are taught that giving and receiving is a transaction. One must lose for another to gain. This isn’t true for an infinite resource.

To belong to these groups, you must adopt a specific set of masks, defend a specific set of opinions, and identify the out-group.

So, you are not only doing physical and mental labor. You are also commanded to do emotional labor.