The Pressure Tactics

I've been noticing something that makes me uneasy in creative and healing spaces—the subtle pressure tactics disguised as transformation.

You know what I mean: the urgency beneath inspirational posts, the manufactured scarcity around "breakthrough" experiences, the way vulnerability gets packaged and leveraged to sell the next retreat.

I read these things and feel a tightening in my chest. Because the message, underneath all the beautiful language, is: If you don't buy this, you'll miss out. If you don't join, you'll stay stuck.

And yes, people will pay—because the pressure works.

What I've learned to ask in any creative space is this:

• Does this person's content make me feel inspired or inadequate?

• Called or pressured?

• Like I have everything I need, or like I'm missing something essential?

The people worth following make you feel more like yourself, not less.

This isn’t a manifesto or a takedown and, while to some this may feel "holier than thou," those who know me will understand that it’s a reminder to myself—maybe to you, too—that we get to choose how we show up.

We get to choose whether we build funnels or wells, whether we sell transformation or invite people to find it themselves.

We also get to choose what we engage with, what we let into our minds and hearts.

Today, I'm choosing to stay close to the sacred, to trust the slow yes, to believe that resonance is enough.

There's room for all of us. I'll be here—quietly, honestly, with an open heart and completely imperfect—if you ever want to walk this way, too.

My T-shirt says “Do More of What Makes You Happy”