I wiped fingerprints off the hallway mirror and caught myself looking older than I felt inside

Dear Delyara, Tired around the eyes, yes. But more than that, I saw responsibility. That is the word that came to me. A face shaped not by one dramatic sorrow but by years of carrying practical and emotional things in careful ways. It didn’t upset me exactly. It made me pause. Because there are days when I still feel unfinished inside, still becoming, still uncertain. Then I catch my reflection and see someone the world would assume has it all more together than she actually does. That gap is strange to live with.