Around the Table

(written February 6, 2026)

I once sat in rooms filled with men in suits. And often, I was the only woman or at least, one of the few. In these moments, I never truly felt at place. I could walk the walk but rarely did I feel comfortable in my own skin to talk the talk. I wore the blazers, and I still think a well-ironed blazer has its place. But there was always an unspoken thickness in the air that reamed of discomfort to where I could never truly get comfortable in a chair. So I squirmed. I squirmed in my seat trying to fit in around the table, trying to breathe through the stale air and imagine a ladder that climbed to my best possible future. But, I couldn't. I knew that path wasn’t for me. And something about all the men in those suits, and their echoing laughs and finger pointing, I just didn’t feel at place, or like I belonged, or like I was one of them.

But I had things I wanted to say. I offered my input and spoke in places I didn’t feel heard. I did my best, tried to bring about changes, and encourage new perspectives among those stale cornered walls. What if we added windows? And we all know something about glass ceilings…

So when I left those rooms, those cubicles, and those windowless places, I felt I could breathe again and find a new path for myself, and for those that come up after me. I hoped I could show them a new way, too. Because a woman can wear a well-ironed blazer and fancy shoes and matching suits, and she can also energize stagnant energy in a room wearing sandals and a comfy, wrinkle-free Tee. I didn’t want to sit at their table and be just like them. Like all those men.

I wanted to bring a different energy, one where I could show up make-up free and still make things happen. Where my appearance wasn’t judged endless, but the work I did could make a difference.

So, anyways, the places I walk, I hope to bring new energy to. And I don’t want to mimic all the men in suits. I want to show up in a new way. I want to sit at a table filled with beautiful faces of diverse perspectives, diverse appearances, and diverse styles and diverse opinions.

Where one thing is common~ respect. This is the kind of table I want to be found at. Sharing, celebrating, and uniting among our differences. I don’t belong at tables where everyone looks the same, wears the same, talks the same. I am magnetized to tables of diversity, equality, new perspectives, and world-changing ideology.

We were never meant to rise by becoming just like them. Our magic is bigger than that, and to sit at their table, dressed in their favor, is to close our capability in.

We celebrate our differences and work to create a new way, by sitting together at the table and encouraging one another to show up just as you are, be it in a suit or not,

~ wearing your full humanity.