Tie a Knot

‘When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on’ ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Here’s the thing about grief… it fucking sucks.

TIE A KNOT

Watching someone you love die, sucks.

TIE A KNOT

Watching my kids try to be strong even when their hearts are breaking , sucks.

TIE A KNOT

Trying to move forward, when all I want, more than anything, is to go back, sucks.

TIE A KNOT

When you don’t want to live, but you don’t want to die

TIE A KNOT

Rock bottom has a basement. I know this because lately I’ve been living there. Maybe, ‘live’ is a dramatic overshoot. Maybe it’s more like I’ve been visiting for a few days, and deciding if I want to unpack all of my shit and stay.

TIE A KNOT.

I grew up in Ohio. I lived there for more years than I didn’t. We had WICKED weather. It would turn on a dime… I would be outside minding my own business and enjoying the sunshine, and then, BAM! Black clouds, hail, sirens and then a big ass tornado warning.

Tornadoes are no joke. They can fuck shit up faster than you can blink. There is a reason that in the movie, The Wizard Of Oz, the house fell on The Wicked Witch and she never saw it coming. Tornados level everything in their path.

TIE A KNOT

When the tornado sirens start blaring and the ‘watch’ turns into a, ‘warning,’ you head to the lowest place you have access to. The safest place, hands down, is a basement. Basements will keep you safe from the destruction happening above you. It’s not a fun place to be, and no one WANTS to be down there, but that musty smelling, damp, cold ass floor basement is your safe haven until the storm blows over.

TIE A KNOT

Eventually the rain stops and the black clouds are replaced with sunshine. You feel safe enough to climb your way out of your basement.

When you were down there? In rock bottoms basement? You felt safe. You tied a knot and held on. You knew the storm would pass… because it always does.

Rock bottom is the lowest you can possibly go, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay down there. You can always, ALWAYS tie a knot and climb back up. You don’t have to do it alone.

If you’re struggling right now and can’t tie a knot on your own, please reach out to someone. Anyone. It’s okay to not be okay, and it’s okay to tell someone when you can’t do it on your own. Fun fact: none of can. ❤️

Until next time

~A