you do not need to be useful, you do not need to be strong, you do not need to be helpful or productive or pull everyone together. you deserve rest. you deserve to be cared for, and you will be. the more that you tell people you are not okay, the more help you will be able to summon. you do not need to hold people up to save them from breaking. sometimes the fall isn’t damaging, but a shattering of worlds that have not served you — a crumbling off of stuck dirt that reveals beautiful pottery beneath — a rattling of the body that shakes the barnacles off from the underside, allowing free movement for the first time. stay safe and true to yourself.