Peta, reading this, what lands most for me as a man is the way you separate performance from integrity. The way you speak about people feeling “entitled to your whole damn freedom, your life” names a pressure many of us quietly bend to without even noticing.
The questions you ask—what it’s costing us to let others pull the puppet strings, to speak on things we’re not qualified to speak on—cut straight through the noise. It feels like a very different kind of courage than the loud, reactive “bravery” the internet often rewards; it’s the quieter courage to stay honest, even if the crowd moves on.
Your refusal to pretend you have answers you don’t, and your willingness to wrestle in public rather than present a polished certainty, model a kind of masculine strength that has room for humility. Freeing the voice while keeping the peace, in that frame, looks less like shouting truths and more like walking with God in the tension, allowing refinement and change without abandoning honesty.
As a man, this invites a recalibration: to trade mass approval for integrity, and to let the voice be shaped more by conviction before God than by demands for constant commentary. That feels like a path where expression is firm, but the nervous system and the soul get to stay intact. In the end, there are bigger things than gaining the approval of others. Staying strong in body, mind, and spirit, regardless of how things play out, is what matters most.
As you know Peta, I've been following you since the "Soupies" days. When you reference people following you "despite all the twists and turns I’ve made", I (and I'm sure many of your followers) have been following you "because" of all the twists and turns you've made. While there are people who never change their beliefs and have rigid conviction, I personally find that boring, To me that denotes narrow-mindedness and a subsequent lack of growth. I'm curious about your evolution because I too want to evolve, so you always bring me another perspective to ponder, digest, and take what I need. I would never be so judgemental as to criticize anybody's journey, I just like to get a glimpse into it and see what nuggets of wisdom I might benefit from. And that wisdom doesn't necessarily have to be an exact opinion, it could be a question to apply to things going forward. Life is dynamic and some of us change along with it. "A fact merely marks the point where we have agreed to let investigation cease", plain and simple. I think the curious ones change and evolve, and those who criticize you and others for evolving do so because they like to latch onto somebody who defines the world for them and makes it easier to navigate, but they rob themselves of their own evolution by adopting another's voice instead of questioning and keeping what feels right to them. Bravo to your twists and turns girl!
Peta, reading this, what lands most for me as a man is the way you separate performance from integrity. The way you speak about people feeling “entitled to your whole damn freedom, your life” names a pressure many of us quietly bend to without even noticing.
The questions you ask—what it’s costing us to let others pull the puppet strings, to speak on things we’re not qualified to speak on—cut straight through the noise. It feels like a very different kind of courage than the loud, reactive “bravery” the internet often rewards; it’s the quieter courage to stay honest, even if the crowd moves on.
Your refusal to pretend you have answers you don’t, and your willingness to wrestle in public rather than present a polished certainty, model a kind of masculine strength that has room for humility. Freeing the voice while keeping the peace, in that frame, looks less like shouting truths and more like walking with God in the tension, allowing refinement and change without abandoning honesty.
As a man, this invites a recalibration: to trade mass approval for integrity, and to let the voice be shaped more by conviction before God than by demands for constant commentary. That feels like a path where expression is firm, but the nervous system and the soul get to stay intact. In the end, there are bigger things than gaining the approval of others. Staying strong in body, mind, and spirit, regardless of how things play out, is what matters most.
This is such a generous and thoughtful comment— thank you so much 🙏🏽🙏🏽
As you know Peta, I've been following you since the "Soupies" days. When you reference people following you "despite all the twists and turns I’ve made", I (and I'm sure many of your followers) have been following you "because" of all the twists and turns you've made. While there are people who never change their beliefs and have rigid conviction, I personally find that boring, To me that denotes narrow-mindedness and a subsequent lack of growth. I'm curious about your evolution because I too want to evolve, so you always bring me another perspective to ponder, digest, and take what I need. I would never be so judgemental as to criticize anybody's journey, I just like to get a glimpse into it and see what nuggets of wisdom I might benefit from. And that wisdom doesn't necessarily have to be an exact opinion, it could be a question to apply to things going forward. Life is dynamic and some of us change along with it. "A fact merely marks the point where we have agreed to let investigation cease", plain and simple. I think the curious ones change and evolve, and those who criticize you and others for evolving do so because they like to latch onto somebody who defines the world for them and makes it easier to navigate, but they rob themselves of their own evolution by adopting another's voice instead of questioning and keeping what feels right to them. Bravo to your twists and turns girl!