Under the dame umbrella ☂️

Sometimes in life, there are situations that leave us lost for words. Times when we don’t know how to respond and don’t know what to say to others.
Times when we’re scared to acknowledge the obvious because we don’t want to upset people.

And yet…

Our grief is never lessened because someone pretends that it isn’t there.
Our sadness never ups and leaves because someone skirts around it.
And our worry does not dissipate because someone acts as if it’s invisible.

And whilst there is something to be said for perspective and distraction,
there is also something to be said for someone holding your hand and saying “I’m sorry this is happening. It’s ok if you need to cry.”

Sometimes we just need someone to acknowledge what we’re feeling.
Otherwise it’s like seeing a huge, grey cloud overhead and everyone saying “look how blue the sky is!”

It doesn’t make us feel better. It actually makes us feel like we have to hide. Like we have to ignore what we feel. Like we have to pretend.

There is no point in pretending the sky is always blue because in reality, sometimes it is grey. Sometimes the clouds fill with rain until they can’t contain it any more.
And no one pretends they’re not heavy. No one avoids telling them they’re grey. Because it would be futile. Instead, we look up at the sky and we say “it looks like rain”.

Because acknowledging the rain doesn’t make it worse. It actually makes us better equipped for it. It actually means that, instead of drowning, we put on our coats and we prepare for the downpour.

And we listen to the rain.
But we do it together.

Under the same umbrella.

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Becky Hemsley 2024
Beautiful artwork by Anna Brigitta Kovács