Dear Friends,
Our dog, Simba, died last Friday. After almost thirteen years here in the world, we eased our golden boy out of his tired body. We kissed his nose and head for the last time, watching his final breath leave his chest, crying so hard we couldn’t breathe.
As I type this, I’m staring at Simba’s empty dog bed in the living room. We just don’t have the strength to move or even empty his water bowl. The silence in this home—without Simba’s old man barks and toenails scraping the wooden floor—it’s too much.
And what’s more, is how when you lose someone … not even the most detailed description of them can capture the particular quality which made you love them so deeply. Loving who you love is an inside experience, and losing them is, too.
And yet still, how important it is for each of us to talk about our inside experiences. While I might never know precisely how your eating disorder or depression or addiction or loss feels inside, I can listen. I can offer up the healing balm of compassion.
That’s my goal at Say It Brave, not to pretend I know exactly what you are going through, but to be a compassionate support along the way.
This week, I was telling one of my friends that I was too much of an “emotional wreck” to concentrate, to write, to work, to parent…
She said, “Maybe you’re an emotional beauty.”
She said, “Maybe you can give yourself the space to feel this deep loss, and it doesn’t mean you are wrecked or broken. Maybe it means you loved Simba so much. And that’s beautiful.”
Keep Braving,
Shannon
☄️ Say It Brave is a supportive community bringing authenticity to mental health conversations and providing free resources for mental wellness. Created by Eating Recovery Center and Insight Behavioral Health, we offer monthly online events with Nationally Recognized Psychologist, Dr. Ashley Solomon, and National Recovery Advocate, Shannon Kopp. We deliver a dose of hope to your inbox every Friday, answering the community’s questions. And we are constantly sharing free resources and support groups to help you in braving your own journey. Join us at www.eatingrecoverycenter.com/sayitbrave ☄️
