The Quiet Grief of Being the Strong One

People assume that “strong” means unbreakable, but strength often just means we’ve learned how to keep moving while carrying what no one sees. This year has asked so much of so many, dreams delayed, unexpected losses, too much news, too much noise. For highly sensitive people and empaths, it’s not just our own pain we’re holding; it’s everyone else’s too. Over time, the nervous system gets tired of being on high alert. Compassion fatigue sets in. The brain begins to interpret constant emotional labor as danger, and suddenly the body is no longer living, it’s surviving.

But grief doesn’t always look like tears. Sometimes it looks like silence. Like scrolling instead of feeling. Like smiling while something inside you whispers, “I’m so tired.” If that’s where you are, you’re not broken, you’re human. You don’t have to be the strong one this season. You’re allowed to rest. You’re allowed to not have the words. And if your heart needs a gentle companion, my guided journal Sanctuary for Sensitivity was created for moments like this, a place to lay down what’s heavy and remember that you don’t have to carry it alone.