I wanted to stop being the stable one

Dear Delyara, There are nights when resilience feels less like a virtue and more like a role I’m tired of performing. The one who remains measured. The one who handles it. The one who doesn’t make the room harder. The one who absorbs, translates, steadies, and continues. Tonight I didn’t want to be her. Not because I wanted collapse. Because I wanted permission not to manage myself so beautifully for one evening.