Stingy vulnerability is harming us. Autonomy touted. Needing shamed. Prove how much you don't need anyone, but then sit solo, likely scrolling, wishing you mattered enough to be needed. If I had a dollar for every person who told me they didn't want to be "a burden". Someone. Somewhere. Needs to learn how to be a burden so people can again feel connected. Might taking turns being a burden be the actual thing we are after? Read, not the destination, but the journey. Belittle the pride, let humanity spill haphazardly on the floor. Unsanitized. Unedited. No filter. The problem with never needing anyone or anything is that you become complicit in cycles of not needing. The appearance of not needing? Is that what we are after here? All while passive bids for needing remain pulsing beneath, hoping for people to see you as you are, naked, hanging on a branch without a fail safe. Might you be reckless and need someone? Put in your community service hours. Risk allowing someone to catch you. Lean into the warmth of being with, the intimacy of need, the willingness to trust.