I went to the supermarket during daylight

Dear Delyara, Agoraphobia made me shop only late at night when stores were empty. Eventually, even that became difficult, and deliveries replaced almost everything. Therapy began with standing outside my building, then short walks, then entering a small shop for one item. Today, I went to a supermarket at one in the afternoon. Families, trolleys, children crying, announcements—exactly the kind of sensory chaos I avoided for three years. Anxiety rose before I reached the produce section. I stayed. I bought bread, milk, bananas, and shampoo. At checkout, the woman asked if I had a loyalty card. I almost laughed because the question was so ordinary. No one knew I had spent nine months working toward being asked about points. Mental-health recovery has not made crowds comfortable. It has made discomfort less powerful than hunger, errands, and the ordinary right to choose my own bananas.