A good metaphor turns “I’m stressed” into something another person can actually picture, and help carry.

Stressed is a word so worn down that it barely transmits anything. Saying it feels like a tab with forty windows open, or like carrying a bag that keeps getting heavier, gives the other person something they can actually see. Once they can picture it, they can ask a useful question or take one thing off you. Precision is what turns a feeling into something shareable.

Next time someone asks how you are, try describing the shape instead of the label. One image is usually enough to make the conversation real.