<p>Someone recently shared a memory about me from when I was a little girl. They described me as defiant.</p><p>I wasn’t trying to be defiant. I was just existing. I came into a room, in my body, in my hair, just myself — and that read as too much.</p><p>I’ve been sitting with that word all week. Because I think a lot of us got a version of that message. Maybe it wasn’t defiant for you. Maybe it was <em>aggressive.</em> Or <em>difficult.</em> Or just a silence. A room that went still when you walked in and spoke.</p><p>Somewhere along the way your voice learned it had to earn its place.</p><p>And right now — Mercury retrograde in Pisces, eight days from a New Moon, the eclipse portal from March 3rd still open — the sky is asking all of us to go inward. Your exhaustion is not a malfunction. Your body is doing something real.</p><p>This episode is about the throat chakra wound. Where it lives. How it spreads — into your relationships, your work, your money, your ability to ask for anything at all. And what it actually feels like to stop collapsing your own voice.</p><p>xoxo,</p><p>Empress Theadora</p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://themediocreblackwoman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">themediocreblackwoman.substack.com/subscribe</a>