Waking up from the trance of avoidance

A couple of years ago, when I was employed at Figma, I reflected on the years I worked independently. I wrote, “When you work independently—as an entrepreneur, freelancer, or creator—in the early days, you actually could become more dependent on the people you know.” I’ve since returned to working independently. While I remember this lesson clearly, and been going through the motions of asking for help, I still find it really difficult to practice interdependence. I recently came across a blog post by Visakan Veerasamy who’s aiming to focus on providing more for his family and being present for them. He describes a cycle he’d previously gotten stuck into it before: I fixate on trying to provide more I struggle and fail at it I feel guilt and shame about the failure The shame constricts me into feeling unworthy and/or incapable of presence Lack of presence makes me more anxious, despairing I resort to various unhealthy coping mechanisms with a cover story of “this will distract me from…