I felt more like myself for fifteen minutes

Dear Delyara, This evening I had about fifteen minutes where I felt genuinely like myself again. Not the careful version. Not the tired version. Not the socially adjusted version. Just myself. It happened while I was doing something simple with my hands, and suddenly there I was — present, unforced, not overthinking, not trying to be legible or useful or composed. Just there. It passed quickly. But it mattered. I think one of the strangest griefs of adulthood is how often you can lose direct access to yourself without anything dramatic happening. So when those moments return, even briefly, they feel like proof that you are still somewhere inside all the noise.