The Octopus Isn’t Leaving
=Decision-Making Octopus — Final Post
Read The Decision-Making Octopus — an 8-part series about internal chaos, emotional sabotage, and showing up anyway.
Explore the full series →
← Part VIII: The Octopus and the Inner War
You mapped it.
The chaos.
The second-guessing.
The panic.
The levers you didn’t know you were pulling.
The Octopus got a name.
The tentacles got exposed.
You saw where they lead.
That’s progress.
But it doesn’t mean you’re free.
It’s Still Here
The Octopus didn’t retire.
It wasn’t defeated by insight or a decent night’s sleep.
It still pulls on your words mid-conversation.
It still cancels things last-minute.
It still overcommits, underconnects, says “I’m fine” like it’s a job title.
It’s still here.
But now, so are you.
What You Know Now
You know when it’s whispering.
You know when your mouth says “sure” but your gut says “no.”
You know when you’re not choosing—you’re reacting.
You know when the Wounded Kid’s at the controls.
You know when the Fuck-It Tentacle is just tired, not brave.
You know when your silence is a shield, not a boundary.
You don’t always stop it.
But you see it.
And sometimes, that’s enough to shift the moment by 5 degrees.
You Are Not Free
There’s no resolution here.
You still disappear in your own head.
You still say things you regret.
You still forget birthdays, flinch from praise, ghost people you love, and spiral at 2am.
But you’re not blind anymore.
You’re wired like this.
You didn’t choose the Octopus.
But you don’t have to let it run everything either.
So What Now?
Nothing, really.
You live with it.
You hold the steering wheel with one hand and gently nudge tentacles off the gear stick with the other.
You laugh when it panics.
You pause when it flails.
You stay when it tells you to leave.
And some days—maybe not often, but sometimes—
You make a decision without asking it first.
This closes the core 8-part arc of The Decision-Making Octopus.
Explore the full series →
