I still instinctively reach for work as a way to feel okay when things get wobbly, even though I KNOW now that's just trading one problem for another, slightly more socially acceptable one. The slightly more socially acceptable problem. That's the gilded cage of it all, isn't it? At least people praise you for collapsing from exhaustion instead of… whatever your actual demons are whispering. I remember the smugness I felt, burning the candle at both ends. Like I was outsmarting the system, proving my worth through sheer output. Now I just see a scared kid, desperate for validation she wasn't getting anywhere else.