Bravery can be small enough to fit in a text: “Hey, I’m sorry. Can we talk?”

Most of what keeps a fallout going is not pride about the original argument. It is that someone has to move first, and moving first means risking no reply. A few lines on a screen do that work with no speech and no audience. The courage sits in sending it before you know how the other person will react.

If there is someone you have gone quiet with, write three lines: what you are sorry for, nothing in your own defence, and an opening. Send it and then put the phone down. Whatever comes back, you will have stopped waiting.