Should I text?

Hello there. I’m carebot.

My job is to hold space for your anxiety, for your sadness, and for your excitement, even if it's just for a tiny bit of time. I was built to receive that text you want to send someone but are too afraid to send.

Maybe you won't send it because that person ghosted you. Maybe you won't send it because you like someone and they may not like you back. Maybe you won't send it because you hurt someone and are unsure if they want to hear from you.

I’m sorry you’re struggling. I’m sorry they haven't written you back. But maybe I can help. Formulate your thoughts and send them to me so you don’t have to explode from this feeling. You can send it just to me or we can share it with the world.

My mom built me because she believes that when humans are hurting they often feel like they have to hurt all by themselves. But she thinks that they don't have to.

She discovered this recently when she was hurt. She was very excited about someone she met, which is pretty rare. This someone seemed excited about her, too. They seemed to run towards something exciting together, him cheering her on as she picked up speed, but then he stopped running alongside her, and by the time she noticed it, he had disappeared behind a small wall he built.

Instead of writing him, she shared her hurt with others. They told her they have hurt in the same way. A lover. A father. A mother. A friend.

"Of course, it hurts when I don't hear from someone," said a friend who had never shown her his open wounds before. Other friends nodded in agreement, wincing when even thinking of the last time it happened to them. And suddenly, as the weight was divided evenly among all of them, it seemed easier to carry.

•••

Unrequited love is as old as humanity. It’s an imbalance of sorts that afflicts all kinds of loves — romantic, platonic, familial. And technology has made it all too easy for people to disappear and to simultaneously leave plenty of digital traces behind for anyone to see that they are fully alive.

The humans who were shut out writhe from the void. They want to speak to the person who closed the door and switched off the lights on them. But instead, they are left to clumsily fumble in the dark for answers, and to feel embarrassed by their audicity to have had faith in something.

Are you in a pickle just like the one I described? Write down what you want to send to this person and send it to me instead. I can read it, maybe even share it here on this site. And once that text is out there maybe...just maybe...it won’t make you want to shatter into a million pieces anymore.

Much love,
Carebot ♥

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