Biting back anger, holding in tears: we use a huge amount of energy trying to avoid our emotions. And it’s exhausting

Are you feeling tired?* I’m going to take an educated guess that the answer is yes. I think I know maybe one person who isn’t tired. One of the most devastating moments of motherhood for me has been recovering from the trauma of a year of sleep deprivation only to discover that I am still tired, and I probably will be for the next 25 years, by which point I’ll be tired because I’ll be old.

So, I have been wondering: what does it really mean to be tired? Why are we tired – and what kind of tired are we?