Author Honey Badger

Not because it is cruel—but because it closes the door cleanly. There is no hinge left open for persuasion, bargaining, or reinterpretation.

For many of us, performance once kept us safe. If you were strong enough, useful enough, agreeable enough, maybe harm would stop. Maybe access would remain. Maybe belonging would be secured. Over time, that performance became mistaken for character.

Kindness that has no edges becomes availability. Availability becomes expectation. Expectation becomes entitlement. When kindness is asked to absorb discomfort, confusion, or dissatisfaction indefinitely, it ceases to be care. It becomes compliance. Firmness is what allows kindness to remain intact.

There comes a point when explanation stops being communication and starts being erosion. I have passed that point. For a long time, I believed clarity required elaboration. That if I explained myself well enough—carefully enough, gently enough—my boundaries would be understood and respected. That belief was incorrect.

Creative work is not inert material. It carries intention, labor, memory, and nervous system imprint. When you encounter a piece of writing, sound, or art, you are entering a relationship—however brief. Ethical engagement begins with acknowledging that relationship exists. Relationship requires care. Care means noticing when curiosity turns into consumption. It means pausing before reuse, adaptation, or repetition. It means recognizing that impact matters more

A gift is voluntary. A gift does not come with pressure, urgency, or implied debt. When I give freely, it is because I choose to—not because I am convinced that saying no would make me ungrateful, difficult, or invisible. My work already exists. It does not need to be justified through depletion.

Art is not neutral. It carries nervous systems, lived experience, and meaning that did not arise in a vacuum. When someone engages with a piece of work—reading it, sharing it, teaching from it, performing it, monetizing it—they are entering a relationship. Consent applies to that relationship.