I put on hand cream and almost cried from the simple feeling of caring for myself without urgency

Dear Delyara, It was such a small thing. Dry hands, a tube from the bedside drawer, a few slow movements before sleep. And yet I realised how little of my own care now happens without speed attached to it. Most of the time I am fixing, preventing, rushing, making do, or postponing. This was different. Not because hand cream matters hugely. Because it was gentle and unnecessary and still done. I think tired women often become emotional not over grand tenderness, but over ordinary care arriving without force. That is what happened to me.