Fears grow best in the dark. Say yours out loud and it usually shrinks to a normal size.

Unspoken fear has no edges, so it expands to fill whatever space it is given. Saying it out loud forces it into a sentence, and sentences have limits: this specific thing, happening to this person, at this time. Often you hear how manageable it sounds while you are still saying it. The other person’s reaction matters less than the act of putting it into words.

Tell one person the thing you have been carrying quietly, or write it in plain language if there is nobody to tell. Notice the size it turns out to be.