I always seem have my best pondering thoughts, lightbulb moments and random ideas when having a wee. This morning it's no different, with the exception of wanting to share those thoughts today.
My plea, if I may, is to tread very carefully over the next couple of weeks.
Nobody could have missed the news of the Queen's passing yesterday and the subsequent stream of 'news' (opinions) and sadness pouring through the telly, radio and social media continues.
Now, you may not give much of a care about the death of the Queen. And that's just fine, of course. There are no set expectations on how you should think or feel.
However I wanted to suggest that you might just see some 'unusual' behaviour from others over the next couple of weeks.
Things that are somewhat unexpected or surprising.
Things you might want to comment on or giggle about as it seems out of character.
Tread carefully.
Anyone who has lost a loved one knows all about the grief bubbles that appear from apparently nowhere and burst in a mass of snot and tears (maybe that's just me, but they burst nonetheless). Grief is not linear.
What you could really be seeing is:
The adult crying for the 5 year old them cuddled up on their Grandads knee listening to magic tales of Kings and Queens and remembering just how he smelled.
Sadness at missing Mum - the head of their family who never missed an opportunity to celebrate a high-day and holiday by hanging out the Union flags and bunting and feeding everyone triangular sandwiches.
Loneliness of a widower when 'big news' reminds them painfully that they are unable to share it with their loved one.
Pregnant women and new Mums who are facing the shift in their own families, creating Grandparents or Great Grandparents and the subsequent reminder that the passage of time changes everything and that life is not infinite.
It could be someone who takes longer to process any change, big or small, and for whom the Queen has been a constant face in their life (invited or not) that is no longer going to be there.
The empath inside someone is sucking up the mourning and sadness that's swirling and is overwhelmed with the volume of it.
The person who lost their bestest friend in the world but has been reminded of the happy time they all dressed up as the Queen for her hen party.
If you have children you might also see unusual behaviour - this could be their first understanding of death; they don't know the Queen but they know of the Queen, the adults are behaving strangely and suddenly there are special assemblies or church services talking about the fact people die and disappear forever. If you're looking for support with how to talk to children about death the charity Winstons Wish has written a blog post which you can find here: https://www.winstonswish.org/blog/
If you're tuned into the news watch and listen carefully on the sections when they are asking the public about what they think about the Queen. 'She reminds me of my Mum', 'My Nan was an absolute Royalist, she adored the Queen', 'She just feels like she's my own family', 'She is a Mother Figure to us all'.
People automatically and understandably relate news like this to themselves first and foremost.
So, if you're vaguely inclined to roll your eyes at a person who is tuning into the TV for hours of repetitive broadcasting, take the mick about someone's outpouring about the Queen on Facebook or berate a small business for closing their doors for a day of two out of respect, just take a step back and understand that, as with everything in life, what you see on the face of it isn't representative of what's going on underneath.
What's this got to do with Dixie Dot Crafts? Everything and nothing. I'm not here today to sell you anything, show off new products or give you any news. We are, however, a family running a family centred business.
If there's one thing Dixie Dot has given me in the last 5 years it's proof of the wonderful, difficult, magical, tricky, complex, fun and unpredicatable swirling soup of life. And we're all in it together.
Love, patience, kindness and understanding... it's what the whole world needs, now more than ever.
Thanks for reading
Love,
Trace
xXx
Well said Harman x