I see your stripes

I see your stripes.  (#wearyourstripes project with  @grassrootsadvocte website)

I may not know you. I may not know how hard it is for you now… I really don’t. I do not have a word that can make all these feel good right now. I’m sorry you re going through these.

These #stripes you are dealing with now is taking its toll on you. I see your stripes - your flaws, pain, your wounds... You’re not alone.

This pandemic may not be the only one causing the panic in you. You may have unfinished business before all these started. You may just be beginning to pay debts, looking for a job, reconciled with a friend, or a family member… You may have started gaining back your life just before this crisis...

This is not only your panic. You are trying to be hopeful for the future, trying to teach yourself positivity, peace... trying to be okay. Getting it all together during an abrupt disorder is difficult.

Balancing the panic and positivity is tough.

No one deserves to feel helpless. It may be your concern. Convincing yourself to be hopeful when you’re already not, is an extended war for you. I hope someone could hear you. I know you just want to be left silent. I am sorry you have to feel all this now.

I wouldn’t try to force you to be vulnerable now. Don’t even have to open up. Your pain right now is enough.

I won’t tell you to be vulnerable. To open up, as if you have not drained all the strength left in you trying to get through pains and panic in these times…you don’t have to.

You are helpless; that is enough.

These hurt. And it is painful going through all this.

But I see the stripes you are wearing at least for now you know you are not alone.

#Metoo... Hey! Just stay…. I’ll stay. We’ll be here until we do not know when. But we will be here. We will someday see how the fogs have been lifted off and, the path will be clearer.

I see your stripes though I may not know you. I accept those stripes- those flaws, wounds, pains, scars...

You may the mom trying to provide food for the whole house and you don’t know where to get it next. You may be a recovering patient, former addict, a depressed who’s experiencing anxiety. Or you may be sick..of other things, or you’re the veteran recovering from a war-stricken state and facing a brand new battle within you.

You may be from somewhere else; no one really knows where, what pain you’ve been through, what darkness you’ve seen. Fought a fight, only you are allowed to fight.

You may be the front-liners facing this crisis. You may be another weak leader or a follower taking small steps to face your own fears and failures and trying again. Learning from the worse. Committing to change is tough.

But I see stripes, I have them too. I am tired and hope everything would just stop... We all have stripes... We are here for you...

We all have stripes… So, what stripes are you wearing?

#WearyourStripes

@WearYourStripesProject - share your stripes @ GrassrootsAdvocateWebsite