There were times I’d feel something heavy and immediately reach outward.

Looking for someone to understand. To comfort. To tell me I wasn’t wrong or too much or overthinking. I didn’t trust myself to sit with what I was feeling.

But now?

I can hold space for myself.

I can notice the ache and stay with it.
I can name the emotion without needing it fixed.
I can cry without needing someone to witness it in order for it to count.

This doesn’t mean I don’t need connection — it means I no longer outsource all my emotional safety.

I’ve become a softer place to land.

And that changes everything.

Because when I trust myself to hold what’s real, I don’t need someone else to carry it. I can simply let them be there with me.

Which is what I wanted all along.