A wise person once told me that "grieving doesn't come with a schedule," and it looks different for every single person on the planet. It was offered to me after I was trying to process an ostensible "friend's" insistence that I just "needed to get over" the passing of the aunt who had helped raise me.
Sometimes, there is no "getting over." Period. End of story. I prefer to think of our journeys as examples of the Japanese artform of Kintsugi, in which our "damage" is not something to hide, but something of beauty that makes us stronger, as people.
It took me a LONG time to even acknowledge how much I was crumbling internally, and it continues to be a slow process, so I do try to be kinder and more patient with myself these days.
Ah yes... the bane of those always perceived by others as "the strong and capable one who has their shit together!" Little do they know that most of the time we are just "winging it" as we go! Being kind to ourselves — and allowing ourselves to receive and absorb that kindness — part of those healthy boundaries we must have, even if it sometimes means that we end up almost completely cycling through our circle of friends and... "I THOUGHT they were friends."
So good to re-connect!!!!
Ditto! Sometimes I quietly sit in awe of how deeply we can be touched and be left with the gentle but indelible imprints of someone halfway around the globe whom we have never met. I'm glad you're back.
PS. I still have so MANY of your tracks on my playlist which have made their appearances regularly along the way :)
That's so cool! Life without music is... well... it's not really life, is it? I'm sure I shall be sending a choon or two your way, as the moments invite it.
❤️
P.S.: Still trying to parse Jude being a teenager... where the eff does time go?