I still feel guilty for wanting less contact on hard weeks

Dear Delyara, Less talking. Less checking in. Less obligation. Less social energy. Less emotional management. Less “how are you” followed by the labour of deciding how honest it is safe to be. On difficult weeks, that is genuinely what my body asks for. And still some cruel inner voice starts acting as if wanting less contact means I am becoming cold instead of trying to survive with whatever softness I still have left. That guilt makes hard weeks so much harder. Because the need itself is often clean. The shame around the need is what muddies everything.