It’s weird how much of my healing came from figuring out what not to do anymore, instead of trying to force myself to do 'the right things'. Like, the subtraction was the magic. All the 'shoulds' and 'musts' were just another cage, even if I built it myself. Freedom wasn't more discipline; it was realizing how much I could let go of without the whole damn thing collapsing. The hardest part was admitting how much of my frantic 'doing' was just avoiding feeling. Like, all that striving was just a really elaborate, exhausting distraction from what was already here, inside. And the quiet...the quiet let it rise.