Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet the last few weeks despite saying I wouldn’t be. I was away on holiday and then we got back to reality and had a wake to organise and a house to sort and of course holiday blues to recover from!

While I was catching up on life, something small happened over messages with a friend, and it’s really stuck with me.

It is going to sound so stupid and to most people won’t even seem like a thing. 

Long story short, I asked them to do something, they pushed back (stubborn as ever). I explained why it mattered to me, and they came back with:

“OK, I get that. Thank you for explaining”

And then they actually did it.

That was all. But for me, it was huge.

I don’t think they really realised, and after I explained I’m not sure they truly understood the moment for me.

I spend so much of my life explaining.  Okay, so yes I am a teacher and that’s part of the territory, but I mean just in conversation. I am always trying to translate the way I think or behave into something other people will “get”. Aapologising for the bits of me that don’t fit what society would expect. It is exhausting, like I need to justify every little thing so I’m not seen as difficult.  In a lot of cases, I probably make myself seem worse.

But in that moment, I didn’t feel like a problem. My friend didn’t roll their eyes (well maybe they did, it was on a message) or make it awkward. They didn’t dismiss me or argue me down. They just listened, understood, and carried on. And they even thanked me for saying it. 

Do you know how rare that feels? For someone to just accept you, quirks and all. Honestly, it was just amazing.

It made me realise how much I usually brace myself in conversations, waiting for the pushback, the rejection, the “you’re being too much”. And how powerful it is when, instead, someone makes you feel like you’re fine exactly as you are.

We don’t always need to fix people or make them explain themselves to death. Sometimes the kindest thing we can do is just believe them, say “I understand” and let that be enough.

Hope you’re all doing well and I’ll be posting more now, feeling a little bit more motivated now I’m medicated!

Love Kx