The Unsaid Things. The series
The Unsaid Things — About Staying There are things you don’t say out loud because once you do, they can’t be put back. One of them is this: I didn’t stay because I didn’t know better. I stayed because I did — and I was tired. Tired of starting again. Tired of explaining myself. Tired of carrying both the leaving and the fallout it would cause. Staying wasn’t weakness. It was logistics. It was care. It was the quiet maths of who would be affected most if I chose myself. No one tells you how convincing familiarity can be. How it lowers its voice and calls itself loyalty. How it dresses up as patience and asks to be admired. From the outside, staying can look like strength. From the inside, it can feel like living in a room where the air never quite moves. I knew something had shifted when hope became something I managed rather than felt. When silence needed translating. When my body learned to brace before my mind caught up. This isn’t a confession. It’s an acknowledgement. There’s ...