First: I’m glad you’re here.
The fact that you’re reading this, that some part of you reached out toward something, anything, that matters. That impulse toward connection, even a stranger’s words on a screen, is worth trusting.
I know what it feels like when the pain stops feeling temporary. When it stops feeling like something you’re going through and starts feeling like something you simply are. When the idea of relief feels so distant it almost seems cruel to imagine it.
I’ve been there. Not metaphorically. I know the particular exhaustion of existing in a mind that feels like a locked room with no windows.
What I want to say to you right now isn’t advice. It’s just this: what you’re feeling is real, it is not permanent, and you don’t have to figure out tomorrow right now. You only have to get through the next hour. Sometimes the next ten minutes.
But you shouldn’t do it alone. And words on a screen — even these — are not enough for what you’re carrying right now. Professional support is not a sign of weakness. It is the right tool for this moment. Please use it.
If you’re in crisis or need immediate support, here are free resources available 24/7:
United States
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Call or text 988
Crisis Text Line — Text HOME to 741741
Canada
Talk Suicide Canada — Call 1-833-456-4566
Crisis Text Line — Text HOME to 741741
International
International Association for Suicide Prevention — Find local crisis centers: https://iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres
If you are in immediate danger, please call your local emergency services or go to the ER.
This newsletter exists because I believe healing is possible — not as a platitude, but as something I lived. But healing starts with staying.
Please stay.