Codependence & Consent

It’s not your fault

They never knew how to deal with their own emotions, much less yours.

I’ve been there.

Your body is shouting no with every cellular breath and you hear the words come out of your mouth as if you’re disconnected from them entirely— “yes”

Take another piece of me

And swaddle yourself in

My overextended comfort.

Because comforting others

Is more comfortable

Than comforting myself.

Codependency.

How do you

Find the words

To say

“NO”

When you’ve

Spent a lifetime

Being told that

Your “no” doesn’t mean

A damn thing.

What gives a no

meaning?

and weight?

What makes a no

real?

I’d say half of it

Is having the gusto

To just say it.

And the other half

Requires a gracious

and compassionate soul

To gracefully receive your no

and honor it in every way.

We can do a lot

To heal ourselves,

To shift our

Internal topography,

To zoom out

And dream a bigger picture.

And yet,

We are still incomplete

Without the kindness of

One another.

What’s the use of

screaming out into the void

if you never get an answer?

We are meant

To heal each other.

And much of it

Simply has to do

With consent.

Asking for & honoring

other’s consent,

but also taking the time

to go inward

to ask for & honor

Our own.