pen pals

when i was 9 years old, i had my first penpal. her name was cheryl and she lived in milton ontario which is mere hours away from me. she was a friend of my cousin's. and we wrote each other letters and it was fun. 

when i was 12, i got my first real penpal. her name was roselyn and she lived in zimbabwe. we wrote to each other for years. her letters were the highlight of my month. she once sent me a necklace ... i still have it upstairs in a box. we wrote to each other until i was 18, when i told her that i was a lesbian and she began to pray for my soul. and then she stopped writing. 

when i was 15, i had a penpal in estonia. and one in michigan. and one in china. 

writing to someone far away was a great way for me to express my feelings safely. kind of like the opposite of therapy where i have to say things in person, face to face, with no distance. having a penpal meant being able to bare my soul without fear of rejection. until roselyn rejected me, but that was a cultural and religious difference. 

i would write pages and pages for each letter. my penpal in china was by far my favourite. he and i would exchange letters on airmail paper. i would tell him about my pathetic love life and he would give me advice, and then tell me about his. i came out to him as a lesbian and he accepted me. i have all of his letters upstairs in the same box as the necklace from roselyn. 

a few years ago, i started playing an online scrabble game with a random stranger. we played back and forth and chatted between turns. after a year or so of playing, we both admitted to each other that we were only continuing the game to stay in touch with each other and instead became facebook friends. i call her my digital penpal. 

i think this blog has become my digital penpal way of expressing myself. i am now at 16,500 page views, most of which come from russia. hello to my russian readers!! 

i can say here what i cannot express in person. i can ramble, or share, or give advice, or simply spill my guts. 

writing for me is a way of breathing. 

my readers, my audience, have become my penpals. so hello to you and thanks for reading. 

be kind to yourself, 

xoxo

...

balance and self-care

www.achieveinafrica.org

when i was a child, i had penpals all over the world. my favourite activity was to write a letter, on real paper, put it in an international mail envelope, put a stamp on it, and then drop it into the red mailbox. then i would wait about a month until i received a reply. my best pen pal lived in zimbabwe and sent me all sorts of letters and presents. i still have a necklace that she sent me 25 years ago. 

as an adult, in our constantly advancing technological world, i now have a digital pen pal: WTR

howtothisandthat.com 

WTR and i met randomly on a scrabble app about 4 years ago. and after a year of playing each other and chatting, decided to become facebook friends. and now she is my pen pal, only we chat in real time. funny how the world and the ways we make connections has changed so much in 20 years. 

today when i was chatting with WTR about my guilt over having been off work, she said:

"As women, we're programmed to think we can and should do it all. it's hard to accept that we can't and shouldn't try."

she is so right. 

from birth, we are conditioned to think that we can do it all. and when we can't do it all, we feel bad about ourselves. and we judge other women who don't seem to be doing it all. we judge women who give themselves permission to take time for themselves. we judge women who choose to stay home with their kids and we judge women who leave their kids and go to work. 

vicky-lifeonthehill.blogspot.com

we feel guilty and ashamed of being unable to balance work, family, home, friends, and a social life. cooking, cleaning, working, being a loving and attentive wife, a mother, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, an employee with responsibilities ... it's hard work. and no one can do it all without giving up themselves and their own needs. 

i decided to ask CP how she manages. she said:

"mostly i just make it all happen. and it feels like no one really notices,, except for other mamas. i tend to have a deep connection with those women. so, i make it work until i can't. and when i can't, i let it wash over me ... the way i do when i sit in a river with moving water. i cling to rocks and let the cool waters swim past me. and hopefully, when i come up for air, pieces of me haven't washed away ... no matter what, a new version of me will eventually be molded, eroded, and sculpted. and most of the time i am tickled and delighted to be in it. but it's fucking hard." 

how do we balance our lives so that we can give to others and to ourselves? how do we give to ourselves? 

kirstentulsian.com 

i think the balance comes in finding something for yourself. maybe it's coffee with a friend once a week, a yoga class, a favourite tv show, meditation, going for a walk, going to the gym, or even blogging. this blog is where i put my energy for myself. and writing posts for this blog is how i take time for myself.

i asked CP, what about time for yourself? her response was "hahahahahaha, i have to work up the courage to ask for it. and not feel guilty. or shitty."

so i asked Kate the same question. she replied: 

"i am an extremely high energy person. i value my time and my life. i love my job but it will never take precedence over my kids. i love my girls but work made me a better mom. working out gives me joy, a social life, and keeps me fit and sane."

so how do we give ourselves permission to do the things that nourish our soul? how do we make ourselves believe and accept that we are worthy and deserving of time for ourselves? 

Geneen Roth wrote:

finding the things that are worth doing is the secret to happiness. i totally just made that up. but i think that it might be true. "celebrate every one of your hungers" whether it be hunger for food, or hunger for writing, or hunger for running, or dancing, or reading, or walking, or talking to a friend, or volunteering ... "if it doesn't bring you pleasure, it's not worth doing" doesn't mean don't do the laundry. the laundry needs to get done. so do the dishes, and the cooking, and the cleaning, and paying the bills, and doing the grocery shopping ... what it does mean is, if working out at the gym doesn't bring you pleasure, then that isn't the right exercise for you; find a dance class, or go for a walk, or swim, or ride your bike. find the thing that brings you pleasure. 

in the meanwhile, as always, 

be kind to yourself,

xoxo

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