We're constantly told to practice self-care, set boundaries, and make time for ourselves. But what happens when even those things feel like another obligation we don't have the energy to fulfill?

In this personal essay, I explore the exhaustion of pretending everything is fine, the complicated relationship between grief and chronic pain, and the frustration of being handed another list of things we're supposed to do to feel better.

Sometimes what we need isn't another self-care routine. It's permission to admit that we're tired of pretending.