Boundaries Are a Belief

Reflection

Something unsettling happened at work right before closing. A stranger came in and started talking at me, not with me. He launched into conspiracy stories about secret camps, governments, aliens, and needing weapons to prepare. I did not believe a word of it, but that did not stop my body from reacting. It was loud. It was intrusive. It was scary in the way sudden chaos is scary.

I removed myself, got food, came home, and went straight under my blanket. That part matters. Regulation came first.

When I told him I was an atheist and did not believe any of it, he replied that it must be nice to not believe in anything. That comment stuck with me, because it was wrong.

I do believe in things.

I believe in the golden rule. I believe people deserve respect. I believe consent matters. I believe boundaries are real and should be honored. I believe no one has the right to dump fear into someone else without permission.

Those beliefs are not imaginary. They are tangible. They shape how I move through the world and how I treat people.

What This Interaction Showed Me

Some people push extreme narratives because it helps them regulate their own fear. They externalize it. They look for witnesses. They turn strangers into containers for their anxiety. When they do that, they are not sharing information. They are self soothing at someone else’s expense.

That does not make it acceptable.

When someone ignores social cues and boundaries in the name of urgency, what they are really saying is that their feelings matter more than your safety or comfort. My discomfort was not confusion. It was my values reacting to a boundary violation.

Belief Does Not Mean Fantasy

There is a difference between believing in values and believing in unprovable stories used to justify fear.

My beliefs are visible. They show up in how I listen, how I stop when someone is uncomfortable, how I leave a situation instead of escalating it, and how I choose care over chaos.

Not believing in conspiracies does not mean believing in nothing. It means choosing reality, ethics, and consent over fear driven mythology.

What I Did Right

I did not engage. I did not argue. I did not absorb responsibility for someone else’s panic. I left, fed myself, and went to a safe place.

That is not weakness. That is self respect.

Closing

Boundaries are a belief system.

So is kindness.

So is choosing not to spread fear.

Those are the things I stand on.

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