When You Feel Emotionally Checked Out

Numbness isn't the opposite of feeling — it's often the result of feeling too much for too long, with nowhere to put it.

If you've been functioning fine but feel a little far from yourself, you're not broken. You're protected. Something in you is holding the volume down because the volume was a lot.

Coming back is slow, and it's usually small. A song you forgot you loved. A walk without your phone. Saying the true sentence in a conversation, even quietly. You don't have to feel everything at once. You can start with one small reconnection.