@FromN5_ There's a version of loyalty that's really just absorbing disappointment on repeat. At some point, stopping isn't giving up; it's self-respect catching up.
A cheap set of watercolors has been sitting on the corner of my desk for a few weeks. I'm genuinely bad with them, and that's the part I want to protect: no plan to get good, nothing to sell, no account to post the results to. Not everything you love has to be optimized or turned into a second job. Some things are allowed to stay small and clumsy and entirely yours.
Plenty of long marriages don't end in a blowup. They end in something quieter, two people who slowly stop talking about anything that matters while the household around them keeps running beautifully. I've watched this happen to people close to me, and it's easier to miss from the inside than anyone expects. Running a life well together isn't the same as still being close.
@detachdaily That's the hardest kind of grief to name. Nothing ended, nothing failed, it just became unrecognizable β and there's no moment to point to when explaining why it hurts.