It Fills In.

That's a frustrating situation, especially if it happened in front of people. The hard part is that how you respond next can shape both your reputation and the working relationship.

A few approaches that tend to work better than confronting it in the moment:

• Re-establish authorship calmly. In the next relevant discussion, reference the idea naturally — “Building on the proposal I brought up last week…” — so people connect it to you without open conflict.
• Talk to the coworker directly. Keep it factual: “I noticed the idea I shared earlier came up without attribution. In the future, I'd appreciate being included when it's presented.”
• Make ownership visible going forward. Send follow-up emails after brainstorming, document proposals in shared channels, volunteer to present your own ideas.
• Watch for pattern vs. one-off. Repeated behavior is different from social clumsiness. If it becomes a pattern, keep records and involve your manager through the lens of collaboration and visibility, not personal grievance.

If you want, I can also help you draft a message to the coworker, figure out whether to involve your manager, or craft a tactful way to reclaim ownership in the next meeting.

That feeling can come from a few different places, but the common thread is usually that your days have become disconnected from anything that feels personally meaningful or emotionally alive. You can still be functioning — working, replying, showing up — while feeling strangely absent from your own life.

A useful way to sort through it is to ask which of these feels closest:

• Burnout: everything feels effortful, even things you used to enjoy.
• Emotional numbness: not exactly sad, just flat.
• Lack of direction: you're productive, but it feels arbitrary.
• Over-routinized life: every day blends together.
• Disconnection from yourself: no space to notice what you actually want.
• Depression: low motivation, low enjoyment, disrupted sleep, isolation.

A lot of people try to solve this with huge changes. Usually it helps more to restore aliveness in smaller ways first — doing one chosen (not obligated) thing, reconnecting with someone you feel present around, making something, noticing what gives you even 5% more energy.

If this has been persistent, or it's getting heavier, talking to a therapist can help — it's hard to regain perspective from inside the pattern.

Going back to school can be a strong move, especially if you're looking for one of these:

• a career change
• higher income potential
• more stability
• a credential you've been putting off
• access to a profession that requires licensing

The key is making sure the return — financial, professional, or personal — justifies the time, cost, and energy. A useful way to think about it: destination → credential → format → school. A lot of people pick the school first and work backward, which usually leads to expensive mismatches.

A few questions worth answering before committing:

• What outcome do you want 3–5 years from now?
• What's the minimum credential that gets you there — bachelor's completion, community college, certification, master's?
• What constraints matter most — cost, working while studying, family, timeline?
• What's your realistic ROI? A $15k program that adds $20k/year is very different from a $120k degree with unclear outcomes.

If you want, I can help you think through whether school makes sense for your situation, what fields are worth considering, or affordable options near you.