I Carry Guilt Like a Second Skin

Dear Delyara, Some people seem to feel guilt when they’ve done something clearly wrong. I feel it much more diffusely than that. I feel guilty when I can’t give someone what they want. I feel guilty when I’m too tired to engage properly. I feel guilty when I’m irritable. I feel guilty when I rest too long. I feel guilty when I need support. I even feel guilty writing some truths down, as if honesty itself might inconvenience someone. It’s exhausting to carry that much self-accusation into every corner of daily life. I don’t know what I’d be like without it. That might be the saddest part.