Take a Look at the World I See: Where Loyalty Is a Language, but Some People Never Learned to Speak It
In this raw and poetic blog post, James reflects on the pain of being loyal in a world that doesn’t value it. Explore what it means to speak the language of loyalty when everyone else is fluent in betrayal.
THE WORLD I SEE
7/3/20252 min read
Let me pipe up real quick.
Where I’m from, loyalty ain’t a trend—it’s a tone of voice. A look in your eye when you say, “I got you.”
It’s not loud. Not performative.
It just is.
But in the world I see now…
People got translator apps for everything—except loyalty.
They act like promises are just poetic metaphors.
Like “I got you” is a lyric, not a vow.
And maybe that’s my fault too.
Because I stayed solid around people who kept folding.
I was the last one at a table that got up a long time ago.
Kept pouring from a cup they cracked just to see if I’d spill.
But here’s the thing:
I wasn’t loyal because it made sense.
I was loyal because I didn’t know how to be fake.
I showed up for folks who wouldn’t even answer the phone.
Defended people who never spoke my name unless they were clearing their own.
And I ain’t bitter about it.
I’m just… clear now.
Clear that some people don’t speak loyalty.
They speak convenience.
They speak survival.
They speak “I’ll love you ‘til it’s hard.”
But that ain’t the dialect I learned.
I was raised on stick-it-out.
On don’t switch sides mid-battle.
On “if I rock with you, I rock with you—ugly days and all.”
Straight like that.
And I’ve come to realize:
Loyalty don’t make you weak.
But giving it to people who ain’t built to carry it? That’ll drain you dry.
So now I protect my language.
Not everyone deserves to hear it.
Not everyone deserves to be called “bro.”
Not everyone deserves access to the version of me that stays when things fall apart.
I ain’t got love for sale no more.
It’s reserved. It’s earned. It’s sacred.
And maybe I’ll stand alone more often now.
But at least I won’t be misunderstood by people who never intended to understand me anyway.
Take a look at the world I see.
It’s a world where I still believe in loyalty—
But I no longer hand it to people who treat it like a puzzle piece that don’t quite fit their picture.
I don’t regret who I was.
I just outgrew the rooms that didn’t deserve him.
Remember, we all carry something.
But here, you don’t have to carry it alone.
Pipe Up.
The World I see is one where men control themselves, mind, body, and spirit. One tool to do just that is journaling. We have a free 7 Day Reflections Journal download for you.