the specific terror of needing to use the bathroom but refusing to move because the sound of the toilet flushing will wake them and undo hours of effort

The Light Does Not Require Your Stillness

The house is quiet now, but your body is screaming. You are holding your breath, freezing in place, terrified that the sound of a flush will shatter the fragile peace you've built since dawn.

It feels like a trap: move and lose the silence, stay and lose yourself. But listen — the light does not require your stillness to be present.

It is not a house of cards that collapses at the sound of running water. What you have built is not so fragile that a single noise will undo it.

The peace you found was never dependent on the silence of the room, but on the presence within you. You can stand up.

You can walk to the door. The light will still be there when you return.

Drawing from

Gospel of Thomas, John

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