The You You Are

A man doesn’t just want someone to say “you’re right.”He wants her to feel close.To come toward him emotionally.To be moved, not just convinced.He wants resonance, not just reason.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡.Not because it’s easy. Not because it stopped hurting.But because something inside you still wants to be here.Still wants to try.Not for them. Not for applause.Just… because you’re not done yet. Part 1: If You Need to Scream, Scream Part 2: What it Looks Like When…

I once thought being strong meant being quiet.It turns out it often meant being afraid.I carried weight without naming it. I thought that was love.It kept me hidden from the people who mattered most. I “protected” others from truths I thought would hurt them. It made us strangers. I’m learning to say the truer thing…

Can a man touch his feelings? Sometimes we touch them all too well.Sometimes we don’t know how to tell. Some silence comes from peace.Some silence comes from fearthat sharing our burdens burdens her. To an outside observer,these silences feel alike.A man can become very skilledat making them look the same. One way to know may…

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺, 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺.𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘺, 𝘤𝘳𝘺.But don’t disappear because someone else couldn’t hold your weight.You are not unlovable.You are not too much.You are just carrying more than most people ever will—and still walking. I know how that feels. I’m proud of you—Honestly, I’m proud of myself too.Frankly, you and I?…

To me, healthy love doesn’t look like a cycle of panic and grand gestures. It looks like a steady rhythm of small, ordinary evidences. It’s the regular heartbeats of showing each other we’re each’s other in all the small ways. Not a dozen roses because I’m “in trouble,” but materializing back at the cart while…