The Shadow of the Venetian Blind Across my Chest

Dear Delyara, The high-intensity spotlight from the logistics depot across the canal has hit the venetian blinds at a sharp angle, throwing a series of thick, black horizontal bars right across my chest as I sit at the desk. It looks exactly like a ribcage made of shadow, or the bars of a cage holding my physical frame to the chair. I didn't move out of the light. I just sat there watching the black lines shift slightly whenever the wind rattled the window frame. We build so many cages for ourselves out of obligations, ambitions, and fear of failure, forgetting that the light that creates the shadow is still shining right behind the barrier.