Space to Be Human

Lately, I've been reflecting on what it means to truly let ourselves be seen. I've been contemplating turning some of my life experiences into a memoir of sorts, while also writing more about this experience I'm having as a single woman in her 40's who has suddenly felt the call to become a Mother.

And it's bringing up a lot of curiosity. Around what it looks like to show up in a world where we are told to have a perfectly curated identity. Or to figure everything out before we share our wisdom. After we have turned the pain into something, wrapping it up neatly into a lesson for others to consume.

What would it look like to show up while we are still living it? To share the blisters we have experienced as we train for the marathon, or the grief of yet another heartbreak as we move through life?

I think so many of us have learned to hide the parts of ourselves that are still unfolding. Or the parts of us that are grieving. Confused. Unclear. The moments where we don't know what anything means.

We disappear while we process. Or turn to others for answers. We wait until we can explain ourselves clearly. Or share without tears streaming down our face. We return when we've become "whole" again.

And yet, this past weekend reminded me of something I already knew. WE WERE NEVER MEANT TO MOVE THROUGH LIFE ALONE.

This is why we show up online and share, but the missing piece is that we are not sharing authentically. Because being in community (REAL COMMUNITY), can be one of the most healing experiences you can have. To be witnessed. Seen. Heard. Held. Not to be fixed. Not to have all of the answers. But to be allowed to exist exactly where you are. In the tenderness. The unfolding. The messy middle of it all.

It's in this space that things soften. I think many of us are longing for spaces where we don't have to perform or be healed. Spaces where we can show up honestly, without making others responsible for our experience. Spaces where we can be witnessed without needing to have the perfect words. Spaces where our humanity is welcomed, instead of hidden away until it becomes more palatable.

And this is a big part of why I share. And feel called to share more of the messy middle. Because I know what it feels like to believe you are the only one struggling in ways that you are struggling. I know what it feels like to scroll through a world where everyone else seems clear, certain, partnered, thriving, regulated, successful...(fill in the blank).

I don't want to contribute to the illusion that we need to have it all figured out before we are worthy of connection. I want to create spaces where you feel safe enough to exhale. To be witnessed in your own becoming.

I am still in the process of my ownl life. Still learning. Unraveling and reweaving parts of myself. But I think there is something powerful about us connecting in the middle space, rather than waiting for the finish line.

Maybe that's the medicine for the soul as we move through this journey. The soothing balm for the blisters as we run this marathon of life.

What do you think?

With love,

Laura