This is very powerful Caro and I feel your struggle. It's funny when you described the women in the shop complaining of her life and the hardship of ferrying children to 'after school clubs' I was thinking of your response before you wrote it. And you were subtle. What came into my mind was far harsher. It's very difficult not to get caught up in comparisons with those you come across when you are feeling so pushed and pulled, when for reasons out of your control you are not given the space to breathe, and when you have such an important and scary weight of a decision - again out of your hands - looming. So much of this is about relinquishing control, which is near to impossible when there is so much at stake. But maybe we can give in to the small things. A life of honesty, and of speaking up, of writing, of standing by your truth accounts for so much - it shows the whole of you, not just a face, a forced smile, a hidden life. That is what we do when we write about the challenges that we face each day. You are a woman in her 40s who is full of power and talent, galvanised to make a difference to the lives of your girls but also to those who are in a similar bind of caring, but might not have the courage or ability to speak up with as much clarity as you do. Keep doing what you are doing. It's exhausting, I know. But you are listened to and you are heard.
Brava Lily! Hear hear! I agree with everything that you said. And of course brava Caro! Caro, I share so many of your thoughts as a single mother myself. I don’t have time or even money for myself and so I certainly don’t have time or money for dating. My time is also precious and I cannot waste it meeting someone I don’t know when I don’t even have the time (and money) to meet the people I do know. It is hard to be the responsible parent, I am that to one and it is hard enough, I cannot imagine that multiplied by four. Your piece is honest and you are anything but invisible! Our words are our currency when we have neither time nor money. But it can be the intimacies that you miss: the adult company, that person on the other end of the sofa, choosing what to cook together, someone to celebrate or commiserate with, just... someone. I hear you, and I also feel I’ve had to shut down half of me, the feminine, womanly parts of me that I so long to be in touch with. But instead we focus on the good and we keep going. Well done for sharing this. I know it will resonate.
This is very powerful Caro and I feel your struggle. It's funny when you described the women in the shop complaining of her life and the hardship of ferrying children to 'after school clubs' I was thinking of your response before you wrote it. And you were subtle. What came into my mind was far harsher. It's very difficult not to get caught up in comparisons with those you come across when you are feeling so pushed and pulled, when for reasons out of your control you are not given the space to breathe, and when you have such an important and scary weight of a decision - again out of your hands - looming. So much of this is about relinquishing control, which is near to impossible when there is so much at stake. But maybe we can give in to the small things. A life of honesty, and of speaking up, of writing, of standing by your truth accounts for so much - it shows the whole of you, not just a face, a forced smile, a hidden life. That is what we do when we write about the challenges that we face each day. You are a woman in her 40s who is full of power and talent, galvanised to make a difference to the lives of your girls but also to those who are in a similar bind of caring, but might not have the courage or ability to speak up with as much clarity as you do. Keep doing what you are doing. It's exhausting, I know. But you are listened to and you are heard.
Brava Lily! Hear hear! I agree with everything that you said. And of course brava Caro! Caro, I share so many of your thoughts as a single mother myself. I don’t have time or even money for myself and so I certainly don’t have time or money for dating. My time is also precious and I cannot waste it meeting someone I don’t know when I don’t even have the time (and money) to meet the people I do know. It is hard to be the responsible parent, I am that to one and it is hard enough, I cannot imagine that multiplied by four. Your piece is honest and you are anything but invisible! Our words are our currency when we have neither time nor money. But it can be the intimacies that you miss: the adult company, that person on the other end of the sofa, choosing what to cook together, someone to celebrate or commiserate with, just... someone. I hear you, and I also feel I’ve had to shut down half of me, the feminine, womanly parts of me that I so long to be in touch with. But instead we focus on the good and we keep going. Well done for sharing this. I know it will resonate.