Help

On our town Facebook page recently, a plea for help went out to find an adorable little dog that had managed to break free from his owner and run off into the unknown. I am not sure how other towns roll when things like this happen but we are a town of dog lovers and once activated, the search is on. We screen shot the number to call if the dog is sighted; we check under our sheds and porches in hopes of finding the missing pup; we drive extra slow on streets where there have been sightings; we set out extra water bowls on our back porches at night lest the escapee becomes parched mid-adventure; we bring extra treats and leashes when we walk our own dogs; we don’t sleep well at night knowing someone’s dog is out fending for itself against the coyotes, traffic and presumed abject loneliness; and we check the original Facebook post incessantly hoping to see a post confirming that the dog has been found. In short, we care a lot. If we are fortunate enough to be the home that the missing dog trots up to when flight mode gives way to exhaustion, we welcome the furry little fugitive into our home with open arms, providing water and unlimited snacks with one hand while relaying the good news via phone to the frantic owner with the other. 

We would do anything for each other’s dogs.

 
This particular rebel dog went missing for six days. That is a long time for a dog used to predictable meal times, snuggly bedding and its own well stocked toybox to survive in the literal wild. This renegade pup was seen multiple times all over town. He was small but freakishly fast. Several follow up posts on Facebook said things like: “Saw the dog and it ran right by me into the woods” or “Saw the dog and could not catch it”. The poor little thing was terrified and its strongest reaction was to run as fast as it could away.

 

And I got to thinking. 

 

Here we have a desperately lost dog who - though he might have been having fun at first - days in was surely feeling the stress of missing his family and not having food or a safe place to sleep. At the same time, we also have a whole town of humans who want nothing more than to find this dog, provide it with comfort and safety and reunite it with its family. Every day and night, this dog ran past hundreds of homes not realizing that if he had walked up to any porch and cried out, help would have been immediate. His pain and confusion would have been over. His needs would have been met. No one would have considered his need for help to be an inconvenience. In fact, it would have been considered an honor to help him. 

 

I think something similar holds true for lost people.

When we are at our lowest. When we are running scared. When we have lost the way back home. When we are running as fast as we can away because we can’t tell who might help us from who might hurt us. When we are exhausted and terrified and every day running fast into the dark woods.

 

We sometimes forget that we are surrounded by help.

 

We forget that if we show up exhausted on someone’s hypothetical front porch - in whatever state of distress we are in - we will likely be met with kindness, a warm blanket, nourishment, a listening ear, and the assurance that all days won’t be as hard as the days we’ve just survived.  Our request for help wouldn’t be considered an inconvenience. The people around us would be honored to help. 

There is a lot of pain in the world and some seasons of pain nearly break us. But we are surrounded by people who would be honored to accompany us through hard times and happy to  carry some of the load. 

 

They just need to know we need help.

 

Thankfully, this runaway dog story had a happy ending and the pup is now back with his family likely living his best life once again. He wasn’t lost forever. We are not lost forever either. Sometimes we just need a little help getting back home. 

 

 

  

 

Extremes

While we sit and point fingers at each other

Over whose fault 

Mass shootings are

 

Can we start by addressing the extremes

 

Can we make space to rethink different beliefs 

and go from 

If you believe differently than me you are wrong to

If you believe differently than me then just maybe

You’ve had a different experience

And I’m curious to hear what that is

 

Can mental health advocates, gun advocates, and anti-hate advocates find common ground

 

Wherever our views fall

On these complicated issues

Can we agree that

 

Most people with mental health issues are not murderers*

 

Most gun owners are not murderers** 

 

And whether it’s born into people

Or groomed and grown

Hatred is not welcome here 

Holy hate included

 

Can we acknowledge

That danger grows unchecked and fastest

At mental health, gun ownership, and hatred’s 

Extreme edges 

 

That the waters get murky 

When we talk about

 

The plight of un-hospitalized people with psychosis who need help but can’t get admitted

 

Who can own Assault Rifles, and if it’s everyone, how young is too young

 

The otherwise mentally stable people living among us who are steeped in hatred

 

Can we start on the fringes 

 

Expand mental health treatment 

For those begging for care

 

Pause gun ownership 

For those who the majority 

On both sides agree 

Shouldn’t own one

 

Pilot reasonable changes 

On both edges of fringe 

And see if there is any improvement

 

And however many guns we own

Whatever our mental status 

Can we decide that 

Hatred doesn’t serve us

 

Can we disagree with each other

Rather than demolish each other

 

This problem

We can’t seem 

To agree on

 

Keeps changing

All of our lives

For the worse

 

So please can we start

Please can we do something

 

Because if we don’t start somewhere

 

This thing

That none of us wants

Won’t end

 

But sadly

Many more lives

Will

 

 

*There are currently 50 million Americans taking

   medications for mental health issues (and 

   100K first cases of psychosis each year)

**Americans own an estimated 20 million Assault

    Rifles which are part of the 393 million guns 

    overall owned by Americans

 

 

To The Person Who Might Active Shoot Me Someday

How

Are you

Today

 

What thoughts

Fill you mind

In these days, months, years maybe

Before the day 

You will kill me

 

Were you born enraged

Already angry

At anything

Everything

 

Or have the beginnings of hatred

Just begun

To creep up

In you

 

Have you noticed 

Within you yet

Signs of confusion or paranoia

Or is that still

On the horizon 

 

Could anything 

Have helped

Dissipate the hate

In your soul

 

Was there a treatment

Not sought

That could have brought

Relief to your mind

 

Have you thought yet

About buying a gun

 

Or are you still researching 

The best way to get one

 

Or do you already own one 

Or maybe several

 

Were they hard to get

 

Were you taught to shoot young

Or did you learn from Google

Or video games

 

Do you already have a plan

 

Have you cased the location 

Where my life will end

 

Have you played the scene through

In your mind

 

What do you feel when you do

 

Do you wonder how I am today

What I think about

 

Do you wonder 

If I’m angry

 

If I’m wild minded 

 

If I own a gun

 

If I too want more from life 

Than it’s given me

I do, by the way

 

Are you planning this

Because you hate 

Something I represent

 

Or because you believe

Death is a better option 

Than life

For all 

 

Do you see yet

The irony

 

That strangers

Whose paths cross for one day

 

Will forever

Be connected in history

 

Will forever share 

The same death date

 

I’m sorry about the hate in your heart 

 

I’m sorry about the brokenness in your mind

 

And whether your actions

Are rooted in hatred or brokenness

 

I’m sorry

You had access

To a gun

 

This is 

A battle

I cannot win

 

I can’t stop

A hatred that deep

An illness that acute 

A system that enmeshed

 

So I will spend 

My days left here

Soaking up happiness

Where ever I can 

 

Yet forever wondering

Where are you today

And is there anything that can be done

To help you

To heal you 

To alter the path you’re on

 

So that it never

Crosses mine

Yelling At A Flower Store

Yelling at a flower store 

Not out loud of course

But internally for sure

 

Allegedly because I have a question 

And can’t find staff to help 

And I don’t have all day

Don’t even have all minute

Hurry it along please

 

I want to buy two things of flowers

To plop in the new whiskey barrels

That sit empty in front of my house

Though given to me as a gift

Three weeks ago

 

This getting of the flowers 

Not looked upon

With any level of enjoyment

Or anticipation 

But rather 

As yet another task

I’m late 

To get done

 

So despite the florist’s words

About the importance

Of custom designing the arrangements 

Based on what speaks to me

I can’t muster up care

 

Because what speaks to me now

Is the hard blue of exhaustion

The coral shades of apathy

The pale yellows of needing 

All the errands to end

So I can find me again

 

Reverse Resume

There is something so inauthentic about resumes with their white sheet of “this is what I can do” Times New Roman bullet point precision. It’s not that the information on resumes is untrue. It’s more a question of when did what’s on this paper become more important than what’s not on this paper? Where is the balance between sharing with the world snippets of our professional shiny selves vs. sharing anything of depth or vulnerability?

 

Maybe my lack of affection for resumes stems from the fact that titles have always made me uncomfortable (quite possibly because I haven’t had many important sounding titles). Even so, I’d prefer to be known for who I am as a person rather than by any skills I might have to offer. I’d prefer to have people think of me and know: This is someone you can count on; This is someone who does what she says; This is someone who has her priorities straight; This is someone who is consistently kind.

 

I wonder sometimes what would happen if we were asked to share what is most important to us in our lives outside of work. To provide a reverse resume of sorts that included not a litany of our professional achievements but rather a list of our most impactful non-work life experiences and choices. The kind of experiences that crystalize what is most meaningful about our time here. 

 

I envision a world of reverse resumes that answer questions like:

• What events in your life so far have made you a better person? 
• What experiences have shown you deep truths that you didn’t know before? 
• What in this life has broken you?
• What has changed you?

 

I picture whole sections of reverse resumes that highlight ways of being that give life more meaning such as:

• Attended most of my child’s soccer games this season. 

• Enrolled in a painting class that opened up the world of art to me
• Sat down for dinner together as a family three nights a week

 

I see a heading called “Great Books Read” with a list of the books that have had the greatest impact this year. Maybe there would also be heading called “Friendships Developed” with a list of people you’ve made a successful effort to know better. If we are being honest, there could even be a section titled “Friendships Let Go” to account for the fact that life changes and friendships do to.  

 

I imagine stacks of reverse resumes with a richness and depth of categories that reflect what it means to be human. Resumes with headings like: Memories Made, Dreams Birthed, Interests Pursued, Things Done Just Because I Could, Goals Reached, Goals I’m Working Towards, and so much more. 

 

It’s not that all the amazing things we can “do” aren’t important.  These things surely are important in relation to getting a job. 

 

It’s just that so much else is important too. 

 

And I hope we don’t forget that. 

 

I hope that no matter what we accomplish in life, we never lose sight of this tender timeless truth - Who we are will always be infinitely more important than what we can do. 

Middle Space

Every time I hear about a loss to suicide (famous or not), I think what more can we do.
 
I wonder a lot about the mysterious gap between the lives we present to the world and the decision that life is not worth living. I wonder what is happening in all that middle space. What is the tipping point that turns our internal dialogues desperate? For example, the middle space of my life was once dominated by deep worry about money and what size cardboard box I would surely be living in in the future. I wonder how many others also get stuck thinking they should be further along in life by now…should be better, healthier, more stable all around. I think that working towards our goals can be great but not if we link our basic worth to the outcome. Imagine the relief of believing that my life is still worthwhile even if that means just living the rest of it as the current version of me? Even if I don’t do anything more or leave a legacy or reach any financial goal that says I was a responsible adult.
 
Deep down, I wonder how many of those we encourage to reach out for help...already have and are still finding it hard and then what. I wonder if other people’s middle space is filled with, “I was brave and reached out for help like everyone said but now that I’m out of crisis mode, I’ve been told it will be 6 months before I can see a therapist (no availability), or the therapist I just waited so long to see isn’t a good fit or the two med regimens I’ve tried didn’t work at all now what. There is serious middle space here but talking about it…wow so hard.
 
I wonder – would it help if we all shared the middle spaces of our lives more freely? If there was more open conversation around ideas like mental wellness takes time; life is deeply disappointing sometimes and not because we are doing anything wrong or; finances, work, relationships and health…all are a journey and a challenge and not one of us is getting all of these things right at the same time. 
 
I wrote the following “Dirty Faucets” essay a few years ago and it’s not brave for me to share this now because things today are a lot better for me. For example, my roof has stopped leaking, we’ve been on some great vacations recently and the debt is cleared up. But for years this was our life and it was hard. There was such daily shame around “why can’t I figure this out when everyone else around me seems to have done so?” One day during that time, I looked down at my faucets which had hard water grime on them that would not budge and it was just symbolic of a lot going wrong. 
 
Maybe one day I’ll share an essay about the things I’m worried about today - my current middle space - but one step at a time. For now, maybe we can consider this: We don’t have to get our messy lives cleaned up today to be worthy. We don’t have to earn a good life. We are worthy of a good happy life right now in the middle of the mess. And we are in good company because every person around has their own messes too…I promise they do. We are all just really good at hiding them. 

 

 

https://thoughtsongriefandgod.blogspot.com/2022/12/dirty-faucets.html 

Dirty Faucets

Note: The Middle Space essay above is the Intro to this one

I wonder sometimes how others live. Are other people’s faucets a little dirty, stained from life and hard water like mine? Is anyone else out there opening her microwave with a fork because the handle fell off, not yesterday but years ago? I look around sometimes and feel like I must be the only one this far behind. The only one approaching 50 with $0 in my savings account. Oh, it was building up for a brief moment until our house needed things that couldn’t wait any longer. The driveway we’d put off for years became undriveable, demanded paving ($7,000) and our windows were literally crumbling in their frames ($10,000). So we used up the savings we had managed to cobble together (which quite frankly wasn’t really going to save us anyway) and got a 7 year loan for what remains and that is why our savings is $0 now and it’s not like I’m in my 20’s here. It should be a lot more right? Right. A lot in my life should be a lot more. But here I am. I work as hard as anyone but staying just ahead of expenses feels forever like an uphill climb. It feels like how I’d only previously assumed that people who spent recklessly and didn’t work hard might feel. A lot of times, it feels like failure. Do others feel this? 
 
I wonder what would happen if every once in a while, we all just said out loud where we are in life so we could get a sense of what is typical and so others wouldn’t feel so lost or assume that everyone else had it all figured out. And what if we also were all just honest about the things that break our hearts and scare the hell out of us?

Ok, I’ll start. What if I told people:
 

• That I cannot foresee saving enough money to live comfortably in retirement so thinking about the future scares me.

• That our roof has leaked for 5 years despite the roofer’s best attempts to make it stop and once we find the source of the leak, our next battle will be to pay for the 5 years of damage that’s been caused.  

• That this year I’m in a delicate dance with finances trying to figure out how to fit a $5000 dental implant and a $2000 root canal into a budget that is already tapped. That I waited 2 months with a buzzing tooth for a root canal because that’s when insurance would pay half. That my multi-step dental implant process will span three years because the money needed to cover it will take that long to accrue. 

• That we paid off nearly $30K in credit card debt a few years ago and so with every new unexpected expense, debt nips at our heels and threatens all the hard work we’ve put in.  

• That our car is 16 years old and that it was 9 years old when we bought it because that’s what we could afford. 

• That planning what to do during vacation weeks is always tinged with disappointment that it can’t be something more.

• That whenever anyone asks if I have any interesting vacations planned, what I hear is “do you have $5K - $10K in disposable income to spend solely on fun this year?”  And I don’t. Well, I did last year but that involved a 6  - month payment plan and cashing in three weeks of vacation time which quite honestly, was a once in a lifetime type of sacrifice. 

• That I often wonder how one income people with kids put food on the table

• That I love my home and my town, and I chose this partner, this house, and this career. But that everything is so hard all the time with money with us.

• That I’m not sure I’ll ever get paid to do what I love or have the chance to live my dreams.

• That I have what I need but I don’t typically get to do what I want.

• That it makes me sad that my appearance will likely never again be what I want it to be (weight, hair, skin, you name it).

• That money is the thing that makes me feel like a failure no matter how hard I work or how closely we follow our budget. 

• That it hurts. 

• That it seems like many others don’t have stress around money and maybe that’s the way life is with two incomes or just maybe they are in debt but either way, other people’s lives are not my business. 

• That I don’t want anyone else’s money or life, but I would like to feel less shame about sharing that my finances are not carefree, not in the past, not now and not for the foreseeable rest of my life.  

 
I could go on and on. But I’m just one life, one story. One girl doing the best she can surrounded by others just trying to do the same.

To Stay Here

To stay here

Is to accept

 

That we might be shot

At the market

While we work

In our schools

Or simply walking down the street

 

That we are 

One car crash away

From being 

Forever changed

 

That cancer might grow in us 

Unnoticed

While we are going about our day 

Because of some poisons we breathed 

Or some chemical we ate too much of

Or for no real reason at all

 

That we risk daily

Randomly losing 

Those we hold dear

 

To stay here

Is to acknowledge

That we may never reach 

The finish line

We were running towards

The goals

We’ve been working towards

 

To stay here

Is to acknowledge

That our reason for staying here 

May likely change with time

From reaching a specific goal

To seeing how far we can get

Despite the odds 

 

To stay here

Is to stare down disappointment 

And realize 

That disappointment 
Sometimes wins

 

Yet we stay here

 

Stay here

 

Stay to rewrite life’s rules

 

Stay not because 

Life has treated you well

 

Stay because 

Perfection is a lie

 

Stay because 

The very best parts of life

Are found more easily

And felt more deeply

By those who have once

Been broken

 

Stay because

The miracle is

That we exist

For any time

At all