The last month or so I’ve been feeling exhausted. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, all the personal adverbs … exhausted. And I know I’m not alone.
Although I do my best to go through my days singing Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” to my cats and dog (“I get knocked down, but I get up again…”), the getting up is getting slower and more difficult each day. And today was grey and dismal, and just one of those days when the cats were sniffing me for signs of life, and the dog gave up on trying to get me to the car.
And then I checked the mail, and the sight of a little blue envelope with my name on it lit up my face like Broadway.
One of the best things to come out of this past year is that I have found a wonderful community of teacher-writers through Jen Laffin’s Teach Write.
These friends — and they are friends — are spread out around the globe, but we get together via Zoom to write and brainstorm together at sessions like Time to Write and Wake Up and Write. Outside of those sessions, it’s not unusual for us to reach out to each other via text, Facebook Messenger, email, and — yes — snailmail, like tangible blue envelopes that arrive as complete surprises on the days we seem to need them the most.
Besides reading the fun message about my ever-changing names on Zoom (there are two Karens, so I mix up my moniker regularly) and the other kind words contained within, I really enjoyed the variety of stamps!
The intense gaze of the big cat is definitely my favourite, but the grouping itself truly makes me smile. In a way, it reminds me of Time to Write, where we are all different but similar, beautiful souls, who come together to get us where we need to go.
We get knocked down, but we get up again … and We get by with a little help from our friends.
Thank you, my dear teacher-writer friend in Texas. Your little blue envelope today was exactly the outstretched hand I needed, and you are a blessing.
Love, Karen
This post was created as part of Two Writing Teachers’ Slice of Life Challenge.
You can view other writers’ contributions via the comments here.
