Loved Before You Carried Anything

The house is quiet now, and the fear has grown loud. You are lying awake wondering if the people who stayed only love the version of you that is useful, the one who carries the weight for everyone else.

You are terrified that the moment you become a burden, the moment you can no longer perform, they will walk away. But there is a love that does not calculate utility.

There is a presence that does not require you to be strong to be held. The light inside you was there before you ever did a single useful thing, and it will be there after you have nothing left to give.

It does not leave when you break. It does not vanish when you become heavy.

You are not loved for what you carry. You are loved because you are here.