Decorating the Prison

Isn't it strange how much we do just to feel safe?

Tiny, almost imperceptible habits. Checking your phone before reaching for the notebook. Keeping the job you know how to do, even though it eats away at your insides. Saying "maybe next week" when your heart whispers, "why not now?"

We call it routine, stability, responsibility. But really, it’s fear. A fear disguised as rationality. The kind that smiles politely and tells you to be grateful. The kind that lets you take small, manageable steps—but only if those steps keep you tethered to the same ground.

Small tweaks keep you safely within your comfort zone.
They let you rearrange the furniture, but never ask you to leave the room.

And for a while, that feels okay. Good, even. Like progress.
Until one day you realize you’ve been renovating a house that no longer feels like home.

So you sit there, in a beautifully updated prison.

But what if the real shift comes not from adding more, but from removing the things that let you escape?

What if you deleted the backup plan?

What if you burned the list of excuses, the alternate routes, the quiet deals you've made with yourself to stay small? What if you stopped cushioning the fall and just... jumped?

Because real change doesn’t come with a safety net. It comes when you’ve made it impossible to go back.

You don’t become brave by dipping your toe in the water.
You become brave when you throw yourself in and trust that you’ll learn how to swim.

I think about the times I did that—not many, but enough to know it works. Enough to remember the fear, yes, but also the clarity. The aliveness. How the noise falls away when you have no choice but to move forward.

So maybe it’s not about tweaking anymore.

Maybe it’s about tearing down the scaffolding.
About choosing discomfort on purpose. Because growth doesn’t come dressed as comfort.

Maybe the question isn’t "How can I make this easier?"
Maybe it’s "What am I still holding onto that makes it possible to run?"

And what happens if I let that go?

Maybe then, finally, the only way out is through.