In an Indian family, you learn quick that love means making yourself a little smaller so everyone else fits easy, like parents dumping their worries on you or cousins calling only when their stuff falls apart. At a family get-together, chachi says something pointed about you still being single, it stings bad, but you laugh it off quiet because speaking up stops all the talk and everyone stares at you like you started trouble. That college cousin goes missing for months, then calls to vent about their startup mess without asking how your job's …
It Made Sense at the Time
It was already open on the screen, the cursor blinking where it always blinked when something was almost done. Finishing it would take twenty minutes, maybe thirty, and tomorrow would be easier if it was off the list. That’s how the night tipped in that direction. Not with a decision, just with momentum. At the beginning, this kind of choice felt solid. Responsible. The adult thing to do.There were reasons that didn’t wobble when spoken out loud: deadlines exist, money matters, other people are waiting. None of that is wrong. It’s practical. …
When Healing Turns Into a Disguised Escape
Healing has a strange marketing problem. Everyone wants it, few understand it, and almost no one admits how lonely it actually feels. The chaos isn’t in the plan. It’s in the emotion underneath. Most people don’t start healing because they’re enlightened. They start because something inside won’t stop itching. Anxiety, shame, heartbreak — whatever it is — the discomfort becomes unbearable. The mind looks around and says, something needs to change. That’s when the overcorrection begins. Big declarations. No-contact lists. Morning …
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The Loneliness No One Warned Ambitious Women About
There is a kind of ache that hides in plain sight. Life looks “fine” from the outside —work, friends, responsibilities—but inside there’s a constant heaviness, as if your chest is carrying a weight no one else can see. It’s the feeling of being surrounded by people and still sensing that no one is really standing with you. You can talk about your day, your tasks, your wins, but there’s a deeper layer that never quite makes it into words. That quiet question - Who actually sees the real me, not just the put‑together version?—keeps echoing …
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When Sensitivity Learns Its Own Name
She was at the sink after dinner, rinsing plates on autopilot, when her mind wandered through the week’s conversations. One person needed reassurance, another needed soothing, someone else needed space to pour out their frustration. She could recall the tone of each voice, the pauses, even the sighs, as if her body stored their weight. Halfway through scrubbing a pan, something nudged her attention: not one of those people had asked how she was. The thought didn’t sting. It simply landed, oddly plain, like finding a doorway in a wall you’d …
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When Everything Feels Too Loud Inside
There are days when the smallest things feel oversized. A tight muscle suddenly feels symbolic. A lump in the throat lingers longer than expected. It’s strange how emotions arrive without asking permission, as if they’ve chosen a random Tuesday to stage an unannounced parade. I move through the day with this invisible weight, pretending nothing’s happening, while inside I’m busy trying to hold myself together. It’s unsettling how private frustration can be; how the world continues normally while you’re quietly swelling with noise. What …
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