Ah Cali, I will miss you even for a short period of time. You have been - are an inspiration to me. I wish you and your husband the very best going forward and I hope to see your heart-warming posts soon.
Thanks Janice. It's a tricky time and I really don't know what to do for the best. I think there will still be occasional posts from Gentle Creative :)
For future reference: "Articles often start out a bit trite but the fun is wrangling them into something useful that I am happy to publish. I realised as I toiled with this one that I just don’t have it in me to write value-creating Gentle Creative articles at the moment."
Try putting these bits in Notes.
"My life is consumed with having enough energy to support my husband and deal with a whole host of associated legal and financial admin."
Thoughts and prayers and collective consciousness energy are with you.
I am here for all of it. Grateful for all of it. Grateful for you. No need to shut down unless it feels like pressure, or costs too much. You might be surprised to find that you need the Gentle Creative at times. We Gentle Creatives sure do love and appreciate you.
How about if we pause, as if we all got up to go to the loo, and see what happens next 16 March, or 3 May? (Note- These are significant dates in the Buddhist calendar.)
Let Spring come. Let us all individually and collectively see what starts to grow through the soil.
If nothing else, the time will be a thank you to each other for the journey we’ve taken together.
I rather think, though, beautiful new branches with tender leaves and tiny blossoms will have grown in this space we’ve left to the seasons.
Will you think about it a while first please, Cali?
Glad the "like" button is a heart, as it's much more about "love." The moments you share in the closing paragraphs, with your spouse and beloved, are so much. Thank you for sharing this, Cali! Wishing you continued strength, and for your husband, healing. And mostly,
Please don’t turn off paid subscriptions! Please keep creating, even once a month and just with an update. I LIVE for your publication. I saw a little post on Instagram today from (of all people) Taylor Swift. She said something about how important it is to keep creating, especially during hardship, or heartbreak. The point was, when going through crisis, this, of all times, is the most important time to keep creating. Please do not worry that we are judging your output or your ability to string everything together perfectly. Please be gentle on yourself in ways you’ve never had to be before as someone once told me right after my wonderful sister passed away suddenly five years ago, “For the next year, you are not allowed to apologize for anything.” This advice came to me from a wonderful person who had, himself, endured a series of unthinkable crises. I appreciated that advice, and his insistence that I follow it. It wasn’t easy at first I constantly felt like I was pulling away from people, living in a shell of my old self, terrified of the future, and letting everyone down. It was very hard to have perspective on my circumstances. All I could think about and feel was my personal pain and loss. It didn’t even occur to me that others were watching me with love and admiration and heartbreak of their own that I was going through something so horrific. And so, I’d like to invite you to consider this thought:
Now, more than ever, we need to hear from you, in whatever form or length, or state of writing you are capable of. We don’t mind bullet points. We don’t mind a brief video when you’re not wearing make up and do you have bags under your eyes from crying. We don’t mind a mess, or a lack of perfection or an absence of clarity. You are loved.
Christine. Thank you. You write the most beautiful encouragement. I like the advice about not apologizing. I feel that I've said "I'm sorry" more in the last two months then in my whole life time. What is it about crisis that makes us feel so inadequate even when we are doing so well? You have made me think about how Gentle Creative could be.
Life is an adventure we are thrust into, jostled about in for a bit, and then removed from. I too treasure the unique experience of caring for my declining, yet no less precious husband as he declined. With each day we grew closer and more grateful for each other.
Not one second to I regret. My prayer is this same experience is yours.
Best of luck with the recovery!
Hey Cali,
I'm glad your husband is awake again and is making progress.
Please don't worry about refunds, and I will keep renewing as long as there is a paid option, irrespective of how much output there is.
May you and your husband both be well 🙏
Thank you for your trust and encouragement x
♥️
Ah Cali, I will miss you even for a short period of time. You have been - are an inspiration to me. I wish you and your husband the very best going forward and I hope to see your heart-warming posts soon.
Thanks Janice. It's a tricky time and I really don't know what to do for the best. I think there will still be occasional posts from Gentle Creative :)
Good luck
For future reference: "Articles often start out a bit trite but the fun is wrangling them into something useful that I am happy to publish. I realised as I toiled with this one that I just don’t have it in me to write value-creating Gentle Creative articles at the moment."
Try putting these bits in Notes.
"My life is consumed with having enough energy to support my husband and deal with a whole host of associated legal and financial admin."
Thoughts and prayers and collective consciousness energy are with you.
Thanks for these suggestions and for your thoughts and prayers. x
I am here for all of it. Grateful for all of it. Grateful for you. No need to shut down unless it feels like pressure, or costs too much. You might be surprised to find that you need the Gentle Creative at times. We Gentle Creatives sure do love and appreciate you.
How about if we pause, as if we all got up to go to the loo, and see what happens next 16 March, or 3 May? (Note- These are significant dates in the Buddhist calendar.)
Let Spring come. Let us all individually and collectively see what starts to grow through the soil.
If nothing else, the time will be a thank you to each other for the journey we’ve taken together.
I rather think, though, beautiful new branches with tender leaves and tiny blossoms will have grown in this space we’ve left to the seasons.
Will you think about it a while first please, Cali?
Thanks for the encouragement. There is some lovely food for thought in all of these comments and I am thinking about how Gentle Creative could work xx
Glad the "like" button is a heart, as it's much more about "love." The moments you share in the closing paragraphs, with your spouse and beloved, are so much. Thank you for sharing this, Cali! Wishing you continued strength, and for your husband, healing. And mostly,
Peace--
Alison
Thank you x
Please don’t turn off paid subscriptions! Please keep creating, even once a month and just with an update. I LIVE for your publication. I saw a little post on Instagram today from (of all people) Taylor Swift. She said something about how important it is to keep creating, especially during hardship, or heartbreak. The point was, when going through crisis, this, of all times, is the most important time to keep creating. Please do not worry that we are judging your output or your ability to string everything together perfectly. Please be gentle on yourself in ways you’ve never had to be before as someone once told me right after my wonderful sister passed away suddenly five years ago, “For the next year, you are not allowed to apologize for anything.” This advice came to me from a wonderful person who had, himself, endured a series of unthinkable crises. I appreciated that advice, and his insistence that I follow it. It wasn’t easy at first I constantly felt like I was pulling away from people, living in a shell of my old self, terrified of the future, and letting everyone down. It was very hard to have perspective on my circumstances. All I could think about and feel was my personal pain and loss. It didn’t even occur to me that others were watching me with love and admiration and heartbreak of their own that I was going through something so horrific. And so, I’d like to invite you to consider this thought:
Now, more than ever, we need to hear from you, in whatever form or length, or state of writing you are capable of. We don’t mind bullet points. We don’t mind a brief video when you’re not wearing make up and do you have bags under your eyes from crying. We don’t mind a mess, or a lack of perfection or an absence of clarity. You are loved.
Remember this.
Christine. Thank you. You write the most beautiful encouragement. I like the advice about not apologizing. I feel that I've said "I'm sorry" more in the last two months then in my whole life time. What is it about crisis that makes us feel so inadequate even when we are doing so well? You have made me think about how Gentle Creative could be.
Life is an adventure we are thrust into, jostled about in for a bit, and then removed from. I too treasure the unique experience of caring for my declining, yet no less precious husband as he declined. With each day we grew closer and more grateful for each other.
Not one second to I regret. My prayer is this same experience is yours.
Sincerely, Linda
Thank you. x
Beautiful, honest words. You are putting your energy where you want and need to put it. Bravo.
Thank you x