journey (n.)
.a travelling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time
.a distance, course, or area travelled or suitable for travelling
.a period of travel.
.passage or progress from one stage to another: the journey to success.
the passage or progress from one stage to another.
over time i’ve been able to recognize each passage. each vital step.
at the beginning though, it was all jumbled. confusion. anger. frustration. doom. i wanted to fast forward, i wanted to see the future. i wanted to just know that it’d all be okay.
isn’t that life.
it could be compared to every other journey we take in life. stories of love, heartache. personal discovery, dealing with depression or any medical issue. death, or unexpected circumstances. you go through a process- and it all starts out the same.
mourning.
-denial. ‘this can’t be…’
-anger. ‘this is so unfair…’
-bargaining. ‘i’ll do anything to bring back/change ____’
-depression. ‘i can’t bear this sadness…’
-acceptance. not necessarily an easy acceptance…
the stages aren’t always marked so clear. sometimes they overlap. occasionally you can move back and forth between them. but i am sure that you have felt that process at some point in your life, and if you haven’t yet- you most certainly will.
and while it is shitty… and how at first you feel so raw and vulnerable. scared and wanting to give it away- I now know how important it is… how much the process changes you, prepares you.
mighty words to speak when i haven’t even finished… when i am only just barely there.
–
i was reading through a friend’s archives. i know her story, and i followed it before i knew of my own fertility issues. i felt her pain, as it had always been a fear of mine…
but it was only recently that i read back through her archives again…i stayed up all night, so tired- ready to go to bed hours ago- but i couldn’t… i discovered something. i found similarity in our voices. in our paths… and in a similar amount of time.
we were/are on different journeys- with the same wish in our heart.
but in her archives- i started to recognize myself in the places that i had already been, already moved on from. i discovered my words in hers, my feelings as if she wrote them.
and then i moved on to 2007. two years after she began, where she wrote a post that felt as if it spoke my mind..
‘…As crazy as all this is, I am truly not as consumed as I used to be. I am thrilled about my business and creating those opportunities for my life. And looking back, if I would have conceived when we first started trying, I am not quite sure I would be where I am today career wise. So for this, I am trusting and letting go more and more.’
–
it has been two years since i began on my journey. i stand in the same place she did.
and though, two years ago would not have been the ‘perfect’ time for us to have a baby- and i was not yet aware of my PCOS. i had stopped taking birth control, and started with ‘whatever happens happens’ (secretly hoping that each month I would fall pregnant… and soon start to discover the problems-and continue on a path to diagnose it)
right now… i stand where she did. and a year later, her babe found her…
it wasn’t in the way she dreamed of and expected…
exactly a year later she started to shift into adoption
eleven months later she was in the room with her birth mother, witnessing the birth of her babe…
–
it just hit me so hard…
i’m standing in the same transition. the same part of the journey.
understanding that if i would have had a baby when we started wishing, our lives would be completely different.. that i might not have my etsy store and be painting pieces and discovering this part of me. sharing it with the world…
and suddenly i’m feeling like… maybe in a year my story will shift. maybe this time next year i’ll have news of how my baby will be brought to me. maybe my story will unfold. maybe i’ll give birth, or find out i’m pregnant, or find a new fertility path…
…what a discovery.
i feel like i’ve waited so long to just discover this feeling. babeless yet, but in my heart i know that i will, one day. it feels so close.
just seeing that is helping me to let go, and trust more and more…
–
some days i damn this journey. and other days i feel blessed by it.
like perhaps it’s a really shitty gift until you realize the possibilities of it… that it’s brought me to this space…these friends, this place in my life where I am selling my art. that it’s given me hope. that it’s teaching me patience and understanding that i have no control… that it's teaching me now, to take care of my body- of my health… it's warning me. and it’s giving me wisdom and lessons… maybe so that i can help guide other women with the same wounds. show them. prove to them. understand and be compassionate with them.
carving me to be a better woman, wife, lover, mother, friend.
–
i bet a year ago you wouldn’t have imagined where you are today, what you would be doing, what you have in your life…
imagine all the possibilities to come.
and go tell everyone you love how much you love and appreciate them. tell them how beautiful they make your life.
xo.
–
right now i am so grateful:
. to have this space to write freely.
. that my mom's mammogram came back just fine. still makes me tear up to think about it. (a good reminder to you to keep those babies in check!)
. this stressful, crazy, beautiful holiday time of year- even though i'm homesick.
. extra cuddles in bed in the morning with my man.
. these slippers that have kept my feet warm this season.