“Glitter + Grit: Speaking up against bullying for women and girls everywhere”
Activation Warning: targeted harassment, trauma, bullying
Someone mailed a glitter bomb to my yoga studio.
Yes, apparently, this is a thing, a horrible thing people do. It was disguised as a canister of incense. “Stargazer” it said. But inside was proof that someone intentionally spent time, energy, and money to try to hurt me.
Someone intended for it to explode in my face into a cloud of purple and gold—the colors of my cheerleading team. The girls I coach. The young women I protect fiercely.
And the space they sent it to? The one I intentionally built to be a safe space for women supporting other women. A space I built after surviving a school shooting and an abusive marriage.
So let me be clear about something:
This wasn’t a joke.
This was targeted.
This was meant to rattle me.
It was meant to silence me.
It didn’t work - let’s be honest, when has that ever worked?
I’ll admit - it activated layers of trauma that I’ve worked so hard to heal.
It made me question my safety—again.
It brought up those old feelings that the world is scary and people are bad. And while the police have a list of the bad people who might have done this to me, I know far more good people than those on that list.
It reminded me that there are still people in this world who feel so threatened by someone shining that they try to break the light. But there are far more people supporting my shine.
But what it didn’t do - make the mess you intended, because as someone with PTSD and C-PTSD, I move through the world with heightened awareness and knew not to open it fully.
And it also didn’t stop me.
In fact, it reawakened something in me: the fierce protector. The lioness. The voice that won’t EVER be silenced.
Because here’s what I know:
My yoga women and cheerleading girls face this too.
Jealousy is loud.
Hurt people unfortunately, really do intentionally try to hurt people.
Success is shiny, like glitter, and some people don’t like that shine in their eyes
And the world still has a long way to go when it comes to creating real safety.
But you know what cheerleaders are made for?
GLITTER.
We love glitter.
We wear it like armor.
It enhances our smiles, our shine, and even our voices.
We know how to turn a mess into a movement.
And every fleck of it intended to harm, sparkles with proof that we don’t back down.
So no—I’m not staying silent.
Not when someone tried to target my safe space.
Not when people try to bully women and girls into dimming their light.
And especially not during Recovery Month and Suicide Prevention Month, when people need reminders that:
💛 Cruelty isn’t harmless - it’s not ok to mess with someone’s mental health
💛 Your healing is not too much.
💛 And your boundaries are sacred.
If you’ve ever been bullied, harassed, or made to feel like your light was a threat, I hope you know:
✨ You are not the problem.
✨ You are not alone.
✨ And your courage sticks to everything.
Just like glitter.
I’m speaking not just for me—but for every woman and girl who’s been bullied, silenced, or pushed too far.
We rise. We shine. So let the “stargazers” watch you shine anyway!
Because we are glitter and grit.
With fire, grace, and of course glitter, and grit,
Katrina Marie
Stay tuned: I’ll be sharing a special boundary-setting mudra practice and a protective ritual I’m using to reclaim my own space—body, mind, and studio.
You are welcome to join me in that reclamation. Unless you are a bully - you can go away!
