You Can Tremble and Still Be Held

The sun is rising, and with it comes the quiet panic of preparing your defense. You are rehearsing the exact sentence to say no to an offer of help, polishing the refusal until it is smooth enough to slide past them without letting them in.

It feels like safety, this careful distance. But the light that just broke the horizon does not ask for permission to exist; it simply arrives.

There is a peace that does not depend on your ability to keep everyone at arm's length. You are not required to carry the weight of yesterday into this new morning.

The door does not have to be thrown open wide for the light to find you. You can stand in the threshold, trembling, and still be held.

The dawn is not asking you to be brave; it is just asking you to be here.