This Week's Writer's Workshop - Friggin' Taxes

For this weeks Writer’s Workshop, John Holton offers six writing prompts and we can choose one of the prompts (or as many as we want). I've chosen two of the prompts this week:

1. Write a post inspired by the word taxes.
2. Write a post in exactly 7 sentences.

So here we go...

FRIGGIN' TAXES

I’ve found myself wrestling with the idea of not wanting to pay federal taxes, to join the national tax strike, especially when every paycheck feels tighter than the last and the federal government has lost its damn mind.

The temptation to claim exempt and keep my money in a high yield savings account seems quite like the, "stick it to the man" I'm looking for.

But at the same time, I'm terrified of the consequences.

There’s a constant tension between not wanting my hard earned money to go towards things I do not support (while also not feeling represented) and understanding that the tax system has rules with real punishments.

I’ve heard TikTok stories of penalties, audits, and garnishments that make the risk feel very real.

Even if the short-term gain seems appealing, the long-term uncertainty creates a kind of lingering anxiety - and I'm already one anxious person.

​For now, I’m stuck somewhere in the middle—wanting to take a stand somehow but wary of the price that might come with it in the end.

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