"HANDLE WITH CARE" by Becky Hemsley

"HANDLE WITH CARE"
by Becky Hemsley

Every woman I know has, at one point or another,

sobbed in the shower

cried in the car

swallowed down tears in the supermarket

and broken down in the bathroom.

And then she has dried her eyes, lifted her head, taken a deep breath and carried on.

She has walked into work

or in through the front door

or into the store or the coffee shop or the hair salon.

And she has smiled and chatted to people so that no one would know she’d been crying.

And I’m not reminding us of this to say

“look how strong we are to pull ourselves together when we are falling apart”.

Although that still stands.

I’m reminding us how easy it is to paint on a brave face so that other people are none the wiser.

So whilst it might not have been you sitting in the car park crying this morning, it might have been that woman who sits three desks down from you.

Whilst it might not have been you sobbing in the shower before getting the kids ready for school this morning, it might have been their teacher. Or another parent on the school run.

Whilst you might have gotten round the supermarket without being on the verge of tears today, it might not be the same for the person working the till. Or the person behind you in the queue.

Everyone wears their brave face in public.

And we’ll never really know just how many people around us have pulled themselves together with the thinnest of threads each morning. How many people are ready to fall apart again at any point.

But compassion strengthens those threads.

Compassion is powerful.

Because even when no one can see it,

even when no one can hear it…

They can feel it.

******

Becky Hemsley 2023

Beautiful artwork by Danielle Coursol

‘Handle with Care’ is from my fourth collection which can be found here:

https://a.co/d/97OIz9l

*I wrote this from experience which is why it says 'woman', but I'm sure it applies to many men too

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