The Fire Doesn’t Burn Me Anymore
12 Feb 2026
Tomorrow, I will turn off my computer for the last time.
After almost nine years.
Nine years of early mornings.
Nine years of building teams.
Nine years of systems, strategy, audits, travel, growth.
Nine years of connection.
I love what I do.
I love my team.
I love the people who trusted me, leaned on me, challenged me, grew with me.
So yes… it is bittersweet.
But every chapter comes to an end. Even the good ones.
And this one?
This one feels less like an ending and more like ignition.
Aries Energy
I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this here, but I am an Aries.
And if you know anything about Aries… you know we are fire.
We are builders.
We are bold.
We don’t stay where we have outgrown ourselves.
We feel deeply. We react quickly. We love fiercely.
We lead naturally.
And when life knocks us down, we get up — sometimes bruised, sometimes crying — but always moving forward.
That part? That’s true for me.
The last year has been a whirlwind.
There were moments when I thought I might completely break.
Divorce stress.
Financial uncertainty.
Career decisions.
Loneliness.
But here’s what I’m realizing:
I may crack.
But I do not break.
And that’s not bravado.
That’s history.
It’s Personal
This job has been my identity for almost a decade.
You cannot spend that long building something without it becoming personal.
Even though it’s “just work,” it’s not just work.
It’s leadership.
It’s loyalty.
It’s shared late nights and hard audits and impossible timelines.
It’s watching people grow.
It’s knowing your value.
So no — I cannot separate the professional from the personal.
But maybe I don’t need to.
The New Chapters
What feels different now is this:
The divorce stress?
It doesn’t feel like it did a year ago.
Or even six months ago.
It’s no longer panic.
It’s no longer fear.
Now it feels like… annoyance.
Because I have plans.
Big plans.
I may not have every dollar in place yet.
But I have direction.
I have strategy.
I may have even found a way to fund the down payment on the new business.
One step closer.
Not just professionally — but personally.
This may be the longest stretch of time I’ve spent truly alone in a very long time.
And instead of fearing that, I’m starting to understand it.
Solitude is not emptiness.
It’s construction space.
Becoming
I am understanding who I am.
And maybe more importantly — who I am becoming.
I am strong, even when I don’t fully own it.
I am honest to the core.
I am vulnerable in ways that once terrified me.
I am fiery and bold (sorry, not sorry).
And there is a new strength emerging — quieter, steadier, less reactive.
Aries energy is often described as impulsive.
But there’s another side.
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac.
The initiator.
The pioneer.
Not reckless.
Brave.
And bravery isn’t loud.
It’s choosing growth even when staying would be easier.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow I will meet with my team for the last time.
I will close the laptop.
I will log out.
And I will step into something new — new relationships, new audit adventures (hopefully with fewer travel mishaps), new challenges, new terrain.
Not because I had to.
Because I chose to.
And that feels powerful.
The Fire
I have everything this life has to throw at me.
I always have.
Even on the worst days —
when I doubted myself,
when I questioned my resilience,
when I felt alone —
I never truly broke.
The fire didn’t consume me.
It refined me.
This isn’t one chapter ending.
It’s several.
Career.
Independence.
Business.
Self-love.
Self-discovery.
And for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like I’m surviving the storm.
I feel like I’m steering into open water.
🔥♈
Journal Prompt
• Where in my life have I mistaken strength for survival?
• What would it look like to own my fire instead of apologizing for it?
• What chapter am I ready to close — even if it’s a good one?
• Who am I becoming when no one is watching?
Spotify Pairing
Rise Up – Andra Day
https://open.spotify.com/track/0tV8pOpiNsKqUys0ilUcXz?
All my love,
Stacey
