coercive control

There is a specific kind of cost attached to "playing the role." For a long time, I didn't know how to cope or express what I was experiencing, so I traded my peace for proximity. I stayed close, but at the expense of myself. Choosing to step away from that script is met with a different kind of price tag—it is unpopular. People do not always appreciate when you stop performing. But for the first time, this cost includes something I never had before: a light at the end of the tunnel. Growth is rarely convenient for the people who relied on your compliance. Choose the light anyway.