03/07/2025
“Because change is terrifying. Choices are terrifying. But having a thing in your head that kills you if you make a mistake is more terrifying.”
~ Murderbot, from Network Effect by Martha Wells
I've been reading fiction again. The cover of Martha Wells' first Murderbot novella—with a very intriguing AppleTV version starring Alexander Skarsgård—caught my attention as I was scrolling through my Kindle library.
The first paragraph hooked me:
“I COULD HAVE BECOME a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites... As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.”
How can I not love this sarcastic and awkward SecUnit, with the handsome face of Alexander Skarsgård, who'd rather binge serials than kill people?
As a MAP Practitioner passionate about rewiring the mind, I’m fascinated by how Murderbot constantly reprograms itself to pursue freedom and happiness. Plus, it’s so much more fun reading this than another self-help book!
That “thing in your head” felt strangely familiar to me. It reminds me of my harsh inner critic—the ‘tough love’ voice I once thought I needed. Now, as a parent, it becomes even more obvious, because that critic sometimes comes out to parent my kids when I’m under stress.
It echoes my good-girl and good-employee conditioning, and I don’t like it. I don’t want it. I can see how it distracts me from being the kind of parent I want to be: for my kids, and for myself. Or, more dramatically... it’s destroying my life.
I have to hack it. And I love that MAP accelerates the process.
But even after hacking it, I still have to choose—not to find someone else to "follow orders from," and instead stay in that awkward, uncomfortable space of getting clear on what I actually want, however small or insignificant it feels, and to follow it anyway.
"Choices are terrifying" to me because I haven’t used that muscle much. But trying to obey my inner critic and being constantly punished by it is even more terrifying.
Just like Murderbot, who’s drawn to connect with people who are kind to it and treat it as a person with free will, I’m choosing to be in the right communities. With people who inspire me and encourage me to keep practicing my “want” muscle.
I’ve just attended The Art of Absolute Knowing with Colette Streicher workshop, and I'm delighted to connect with her private community where we continue to practice and inspire one another. I’ve also joined Faith Teo's second round of 14 Days to More: a group program on manifesting what we want. It feels like such a synchronicity to have both happening at the same time. I love being in both communities.
Spoiler alert ahead!
Back to the book: Network Effect. My heart sang when Murderbot saved another SecUnit from self-destruction by teaching it how to hack its own governor module. That was the first choice that SecUnit made to free itself.
I guess this shows that practicing free will is contagious.
What would our world look like if more of us truly did what we enjoy and find meaningful? What might happen if everyone were free to flourish with mutual respect and harmony?
Like Murderbot, I don’t have everything figured out. But I’m choosing, step by step, to be kind to myself, to notice what I want, and to follow that.
Because in a world where change is terrifying and choices are terrifying, choosing to be free, and kind, might just be the most powerful thing we can do.