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# On What We Build to Survive
- URL: https://www.readsouveraine.com/on-what-we-build-to-survive/
- Published: 2026-09-23T17:16:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T17:20:11.000Z
- Description: Sometimes survival means building walls so carefully that, eventually, we forget they were meant to be temporary. Incubated is a reflection on fear, shame, faith, and the moment when protection begins to look more like confinement.
- Author: coco
- Tags: The Inner Work, #Editor's Pick

**Incubated**

Safe and protected  
from harm’s way—  
close,  
but always just beyond arm's reach.

 How do you tread lightly  
when the rocks beneath  
are ready to give way?  
One move  
in just the right direction—  
and you’ll be catching the rockslide  
back to the valley. 

Cognitive paralysis  
on the ledge  
of falling apart.

 Showered by this shame,  
twirling around  
within my mind—  
should’ve,  
could’ve,  
if only,  
what if,  
why did I,  
unworthy,  
not enough—  
on and on again. 

My God—  
make it stop.  
Please.

 I’ve meticulously built these walls  
to elude this pain.  
I told her  
she would never hurt again—  
now look what I’ve done. 

I just stripped her  
of her last vice.  
Now she has to pick up  
my broken pieces  
again. 

But honey—  
that’s right where you need to be.  
Look at the growth. 

How do you tread lightly  
when the rocks beneath  
are ready to give way?  
One move  
in just the right direction—  
and you’ll safely reach the peak. 

Anchored  
in the rock of faith,  
the truth I’m standing on.

Vulnerable  
and susceptible  
to the elements—  
exposed,  
but always still protected  
by God.  
Shackles fall  
to freely walk. 

Now that little girl  
who picked up the pieces  
time and again—  
she will rise. 

\-coco