Often we try to tuck pain away. We smile through it, distract ourselves, or say we’re fine. Admitting we hurt can feel risky. What if no one understands?

Pain doesn’t shrink when it’s ignored. It lingers quietly, waiting to step forward. Making space to speak to it, even a little, is courageous.

Rumi said, “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” Speaking our pain doesn’t require every detail. Sometimes it’s enough to say, “I’m struggling,” or “this feels heavy.” Sometimes it’s those words that crack us open, that shatters the silence and opens us up to a new place.

Naming our pain is often the first real step toward healing. When we say it out loud, it doesn’t magically fix everything, but it does lighten the load a bit. It gives us space to breathe, to move, to take that next small step. And sometimes, that’s all we need to let a little bit of light in, especially in the places that once felt completely shut off.