The Routinely Unexpected

Just as I was beginning to find comforting solitude in a tranquil bath of steaming hot water, I heard a gentle knock on the door and a kind little voice asking if she could come in. A mother's instinct is often never wrong as I granted her the permission she was searching for. We have been here many times before and though the smile on her face might present itself as a little deceiving, the concern in her words was all to familiar. She often cries out for help in this way; Kind. Subtle. A bit embarrassed and fragile. I let her in and cautiously watched as she lay on the bathroom floor comforted by my presence. She remained there until the threat had passed and simply left the room with a silly giggle as if nothing had ever happened. As scary and unexpected as these moments are, they have become routine. This is what anxiety does. This is what anxiety is. And sometimes, this is what anxiety looks like.-

January 22, 2021