I entered with presence.

It wasn’t mine.

It belonged to the place.

I scanned.

Shifted up.

Filled the space

before anyone asked me to.

That’s what I had learned to do in the place.

Read the cues.

Match the energy.

Take responsibility for the whole room.

No one asked for that.

I felt it anyway.

Did it anyway.

Felt the weight.

Picked it up anyway.

Felt the story.

Felt who I needed to be

to make the place work.

That’s the pattern.

Expanding to fill the space.

Performing a version of leadership

that doesn’t include me.

I uncovered myself in a place

I’d already outgrown.

I still became who I used to be there.

I forget who I’m becoming.

That used to be useful.

Now it keeps me distracted.

Inflated.

Frustrated.

Exhausted.

I can’t keep mastering the place

if I want to find the place I belong.