Dear Elle, since reading your poem yesterday, I've been on and off lost in thought, hoping something proper to say would come to me. I'm sorry you've ever had to fear expressing yourself about your own life experiences on this level. I know keeping in anything bad is unhealthy, and the events behind your trauma were particularly extreme.

It's why I'm especially grateful you met your therapist friend, perhaps one of the few therapists I'm ever happy to read about, as most people, including myself, will struggle to take in what you've been through - or what it's caused - to respond properly, and this person sounds not only able, but genuinely caring, which isn't the norm in an industry that only thrives when people are sick.

Anyone coming by this piece who can relate, I hope this helps them realize they're not alone in the world... or at least that they might not have to be, and that it's okay for everyone to heal at their own pace.

Sending hugs you can halt at the desired distance for comfort. 🖤

Love,

G

P.S. I'm restructuring my main reading system for the year so I don't overwhelm everyone with comments from reading as much of them as I can at once then vanishing, only to let the full buildup happen all over again. My goal is to catch up on past works as well as recent ones. Some days, I'll likely read and clap without commenting, but honestly, with you and some others on my list, it's generally difficult to move on that way. You'd have to tell me if it's ever too much, so I can dial it back.