Keep Calm and Carry On

So I mentioned I'd had a rough month in May. I can't really tell you why; it was just one of those times in my life where there was a lot going on, the blues kept sucking me down, and I couldn't find the time to take care of myself, to be gentle with myself ... to even be by myself very much at all.

One day, as I was walking down Court Street in Athens on my lunch break, I saw this poster hanging in a store window. I'd seen this poster in a picture on one of my favorite blogs, www.nieniedialogues.com. With funds low but my interest piqued, I marched into the place and bought one of these beauties. It now dances around the various walls of my office. I can't seem to figure out where it belongs, but it does belong.

(The history of this poster is as striking as its simple design. It was produced, but never used, in 1939 by the British government at the start of World War II as a "last resort" in the event of a Nazi invasion.)

My wise junior high English teacher, Mrs. Gretchen Montgomery, once told my parents in a parent-teacher conference, "Erin sometimes gets a black cloud over her head, but we know if we leave her alone, she pulls out of it."

It's true. I've always been a bit arrogant in the way I believe that no one can help me but myself. I'm independent and headstrong to a fault. I take care of people, and I don't let them take care of me--even when I am in need of care. One of the many drawbacks of this is that people around me get used to this and quit trying.

But what I'm getting at is this: I was in more than a bit of a funk. And now, I'm out. The poster helped me, I helped myself, and, this time, I let some of you help me too.

Thank you.