We hold back our vulnerabilities, we try to hide them, even though they're exactly what connect us to each other. Here's a space where you can let something off your chest...
"Many times, behind the smile is a person who’s hurting, alone, and in turmoil. When someone is struggling, reach out. Be a healer. Be a restorer." ~ Joel Osteen
Okay, first of all I love the tangled line drawings (I often draw this to calm my brain). And this quote really stuck with me: "The more we withhold, the more the shame controls us. That shadow hovers over us."
Thank you. I found your newsletter reading yesterday’s office hours.
I’ve just started my own Substack newsletter. About travel and photography. For the last few months I’ve based myself in Querétaro, Mexico, my “headquarters”, if you will, living long-term in a complex of suites that shares the same courtyard. There are a few of us, all foreigners--me from Canada, others from China, Germany, Romania, the US. We’ve formed a little community. Quite a revelation for me.
Yesterday, the woman from Germany had just returned from a visit with her parents so I went by her suite to say a quick “welcome back”, But as soon as I saw her I noticed she’d been crying. Not what I expected.
She was overwhelmed. Probably exacerbated by jet lag and that slightly empty feeling immediately following any trip, but also from the turmoil that comes from dealing with family. It was guilt mostly--why was she so uncomfortable around people she loved and all the complexities of that.
So we talked. We found one of the common tables and sat down. I wanted to really listen, not just dismiss her with a quick pep talk. I found my self unburdening as well. It was good for both of us. I thought it humorously ironic. The “therapist” being helped by the “patient”.
In my first newsletter, I have a long travelogue about Veracruz. There’s a bit where I describe a long stretch of seawall. I mentioned it as a good opportunity to just enjoy the views and let your thoughts drift. I ended up inserting my own feelings at the time--what I had just gone through, my trepidations about the future.
It was inadvertent. Nothing to do with Veracruz, really, but I think it made my article a little deeper and richer. The human connection, more than just factual observation. What travel is really about. Finding ourselves.
Anyway, thanks! I look forward to reading more of your work.
"Many times, behind the smile is a person who’s hurting, alone, and in turmoil. When someone is struggling, reach out. Be a healer. Be a restorer." ~ Joel Osteen
Okay, first of all I love the tangled line drawings (I often draw this to calm my brain). And this quote really stuck with me: "The more we withhold, the more the shame controls us. That shadow hovers over us."
Thank you. I found your newsletter reading yesterday’s office hours.
I’ve just started my own Substack newsletter. About travel and photography. For the last few months I’ve based myself in Querétaro, Mexico, my “headquarters”, if you will, living long-term in a complex of suites that shares the same courtyard. There are a few of us, all foreigners--me from Canada, others from China, Germany, Romania, the US. We’ve formed a little community. Quite a revelation for me.
Yesterday, the woman from Germany had just returned from a visit with her parents so I went by her suite to say a quick “welcome back”, But as soon as I saw her I noticed she’d been crying. Not what I expected.
She was overwhelmed. Probably exacerbated by jet lag and that slightly empty feeling immediately following any trip, but also from the turmoil that comes from dealing with family. It was guilt mostly--why was she so uncomfortable around people she loved and all the complexities of that.
So we talked. We found one of the common tables and sat down. I wanted to really listen, not just dismiss her with a quick pep talk. I found my self unburdening as well. It was good for both of us. I thought it humorously ironic. The “therapist” being helped by the “patient”.
In my first newsletter, I have a long travelogue about Veracruz. There’s a bit where I describe a long stretch of seawall. I mentioned it as a good opportunity to just enjoy the views and let your thoughts drift. I ended up inserting my own feelings at the time--what I had just gone through, my trepidations about the future.
It was inadvertent. Nothing to do with Veracruz, really, but I think it made my article a little deeper and richer. The human connection, more than just factual observation. What travel is really about. Finding ourselves.
Anyway, thanks! I look forward to reading more of your work.
Hope you don’t mind if I share a link...
circumspectral.substack.com
Oh this is so great! Keen to revisit not when I mum about to fall asleep!!