When closeness meets comparison, something shifts. We say we are happy for them. But something in us quietly pulls away. Somewhere in the space between sincerity and sadness, a small part of us tugs inward, feeling uncertain, tender, and a little ashamed of the ache it is carrying.Jealousy doesn’t always announce itself as resentment. More often, it appears as a longer pause before we reply to their message, or as a quiet retreat from someone we once felt safe with. Not because we stopped caring, but because we don’t know how to hold the complexity of feeling both love and lack in the same breath. It slips into friendships when one person is celebrated and the other is quietly struggling. It shows up at work when someone else gets the spotlight you were hoping would … Continue reading When Jealousy Fractures Connection—Without a Single Word (Reflections On Jealousy Part 2)