Catching Idle Butterflies

Wordless

One thing about Blogville never ceases to amaze me: Community. Regardless of your struggles or your joys, people jump right in to sympathize, empathize, give advice, and happily share in whatever joys and successes you have.

Few things make me feel more complete then when I help lift someone's spirit. I know I'm not alone, because the proof is in the comments of my previous entries. I could feel the same longing to help me in your words as I feel when I try to help one of you.

The flipside of that is when I want to help, to say something of comfort, but I don't have a clue where to begin.

Sheherazade expressed this frustration beautifully in her comment of my previous entry: I didn't comment before because I honestly didn't know what to say. I don't have the kind of experience that made me feel able to write something that would be useful or helpful, and I was worried that I would say something wrong or insensitive and make things worse.

But I have been worrying about it, and I have come to the conclusion that the one thing that I can say is that you have my utmost support. I so hope that things improve, and I admire the way in which you have dealt with this, one of the most difficult of issues.

Whatever you say, I for one will read.

I know exactly how she feels. For instance, I don't have a clue what to say to susanL when she talks about her bi-polar daughter. I can't begin to understand what Budroe is going through in beating Cancer.

I'm learning that it doesn't matter the exact words we use. By having people say, "I'm listening" is more than enough, even if they don't understand. Sometimes we don't seek advice, but merely to be heard and to know we're being heard.

Thank you all for listening.