All my life until recently, when alone in public, I'd seek out the least conspicuous, most sequestered place to sit.
Now I'll take whatever most resembles a throne.
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Not sure this is a *healthy* development, exactly, but I'm satisfied enough.
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One thing that's pretty amusing about stuff like this is that most people will ardently insist it's all conceit, all pointless.
Until they feel like their personal dynamic with you is even the slightest bit affected, and all hell breaks loose.
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Like when interacting with a domineering person who takes up a lot of space, tries to get into superior positions a lot.
See how they react if you just don't allow this to happen (match body language, claim space assertively...)
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But on a higher level of abstraction than that, people always, always, always expect participation in their games.
Even games you never signed up for.
This can often be safely ignored.
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And when it can't be safely ignored, it can often be forcefully rejected.
All you need to do is walk away.
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People are conditioned from birth to internalize norms and other people's expectations.
These are presented as natural law, rather than the shared fictions they represent.
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It becomes easy to live in a sort of twilit reality, where any deviation from expectations gives you a feeling like the walls are closing in.
But the walls are pure illusion. There are always consequences, but no laws. It's all just play-acting.
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People can put you in chains, shun you or shoot you.
But all of these oppressions are like nothing compared with accepting the illusion of laws, rules, limits.
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