Systems & Society Archives - fromthelees.com https://fromthelees.com/category/systems-and-society/ Thu, 16 Jul 2026 02:24:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4 Something changed and I didn’t notice https://fromthelees.com/something-changed-and-i-didnt-notice/ Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=1314 I deleted Facebook but kept Messenger. I caught myself scrolling again by the end of the day. Everything in my feed is strangers I never followed, ads dressed as content, people selling something. I thought I was catching up with friends, being present, being relational. I wasn’t weak, I failed to notice when the room

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]]> I deleted Facebook but kept Messenger. I caught myself scrolling again by the end of the day. Everything in my feed is strangers I never followed, ads dressed as content, people selling something. I thought I was catching up with friends, being present, being relational. I wasn’t weak, I failed to notice when the room changed. It used to be a place to catch up with people I knew. Now it’s a place where selling wears the appearance of connection.

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]]> I don’t trust that I’ll be held https://fromthelees.com/i-dont-trust-that-ill-be-held/ Sun, 19 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=1154 Money is the easy culprit. Every year, the same shortage. Every plan, the same constraint. At some point the pattern isn’t bad luck. It’s a choice I keep making. If I don’t, who will?

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]]> Money is the easy culprit. Every year, the same shortage. Every plan, the same constraint. At some point the pattern isn’t bad luck. It’s a choice I keep making. If I don’t, who will?

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]]> They think they want to know, but they often can’t handle it https://fromthelees.com/they-think-they-want-to-know-but-they-often-cant-handle-it/ Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=981 Every workplace tells you to call it like it is. Name the blocker, speak up, be direct. So I did. What I didn’t see is that most people confuse thoughts for emotions and emotions for thoughts. What you thought you said isn’t what they received. You named a problem. They felt an attack. The ideal

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]]> Every workplace tells you to call it like it is. Name the blocker, speak up, be direct. So I did. What I didn’t see is that most people confuse thoughts for emotions and emotions for thoughts. What you thought you said isn’t what they received. You named a problem. They felt an attack. The ideal of putting emotions aside in the workplace is fiction.

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]]> Asking is the cheapest way to learn and the most expensive thing to be seen doing https://fromthelees.com/asking-is-the-cheapest-way-to-learn-and-the-most-expensive-thing-to-be-seen-doing/ Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=977 In my twenties, I asked questions at work and got in trouble for it. Everyone thought I was disrupting the training, wasting the trainer’s time, jeopardizing the project. It got escalated to senior management. I almost got cut. Then the project ended and I was the only one who understood the assignment. I paid for

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]]> In my twenties, I asked questions at work and got in trouble for it. Everyone thought I was disrupting the training, wasting the trainer’s time, jeopardizing the project. It got escalated to senior management. I almost got cut. Then the project ended and I was the only one who understood the assignment. I paid for that understanding in reputation. Most people aren’t willing to. They learned the cost before I did.

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]]> The box is invisible from the inside https://fromthelees.com/the-box-is-invisible-from-the-inside/ Wed, 08 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=975 The system you know is designed to keep you managing, not thriving. And because you can’t see outside it while you’re in it, you don’t suspect the system. You suspect yourself. Then something happens – illness, exhaustion, loss, your rock bottom – and it changes your shape enough that it doesn’t fit anymore.

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]]> The system you know is designed to keep you managing, not thriving. And because you can’t see outside it while you’re in it, you don’t suspect the system. You suspect yourself. Then something happens – illness, exhaustion, loss, your rock bottom – and it changes your shape enough that it doesn’t fit anymore.

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]]> Every choice arrives as if it’s the first one https://fromthelees.com/every-choice-arrives-as-if-its-the-first-one/ Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=971 The tire blew this morning, and I overspent because I had no memory of the car I’ve owned for seven years. No record of where the tires came from, when they went on, what I paid, what I learned. The decision should have been easier this time. Without memory, every time is a first time.

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]]> The tire blew this morning, and I overspent because I had no memory of the car I’ve owned for seven years. No record of where the tires came from, when they went on, what I paid, what I learned. The decision should have been easier this time. Without memory, every time is a first time.

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]]> Some stands only you know your making https://fromthelees.com/some-stands-only-you-know-your-making/ Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=895 I refused to buy water at the fair on principle. R was thirsty. We suffered. The system didn’t notice. There’s a difference between friction for the greater good and suffering just to suffer. One changes something. The other is just pride with nowhere to go.

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]]> I refused to buy water at the fair on principle. R was thirsty. We suffered. The system didn’t notice. There’s a difference between friction for the greater good and suffering just to suffer. One changes something. The other is just pride with nowhere to go.

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]]> Awareness without the means to act is its own kind of suffering https://fromthelees.com/awareness-without-the-means-to-act-is-its-own-kind-of-suffering/ Tue, 16 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=882 I pulled the thread. I saw what was on the other end. Conscious consumption costs more money and more energy than I have. So, I’m left holding the awareness without the ability to fully act on it. That’s not hypocrisy. That’s the grief of knowing in a system designed to make knowing inconvenient.

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]]> I pulled the thread. I saw what was on the other end. Conscious consumption costs more money and more energy than I have. So, I’m left holding the awareness without the ability to fully act on it. That’s not hypocrisy. That’s the grief of knowing in a system designed to make knowing inconvenient.

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]]> I don’t want to create an echo chamber https://fromthelees.com/i-dont-want-to-create-an-echo-chamber/ Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=870 I can see the resistance now. If I only share what I know and people who agree find me, I’ve just built a mirror. An echo chamber is the antithesis of what I want to create. I want to help people explore the edges of their discomfort – not confirm what they already believe.

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]]> I can see the resistance now. If I only share what I know and people who agree find me, I’ve just built a mirror. An echo chamber is the antithesis of what I want to create. I want to help people explore the edges of their discomfort – not confirm what they already believe.

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]]> Even Facebook Marketplace can smell desperation https://fromthelees.com/even-facebook-marketplace-can-smell-desperation/ Sun, 07 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://fromthelees.com/?p=864 I listed the item. Priced it fairly. Someone else sold the same thing quickly for more with less to offer. I felt the frustration land hard. Then I got honest – I needed that sale. And need has a smell. You can feel it through a screen without knowing why you’re scrolling past. The more

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]]> I listed the item. Priced it fairly. Someone else sold the same thing quickly for more with less to offer. I felt the frustration land hard. Then I got honest – I needed that sale. And need has a smell. You can feel it through a screen without knowing why you’re scrolling past. The more you need the result, the harder it is to get.

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