I see you.

You see through a different lens.

Seeing what we do not see.

Seeing what we cannot see.

Like so many who carry daily physical or emotional pain, you, too, are in the shadows, quietly doing the next thing.

We are not attracted to someone carrying something we do not understand.  In fact, it can be repulsive for some.

People look the other way.

People run the other way.

If not outwardly, inside.

They are afraid.

They do not wish to see the dark side of life. The side that says all is broken amidst the beauty and when they turn the corner something might break in their life, too.

Yet, you know the scenery on your journey is not all barren as some would think.

God whispers in your ear and tells you secrets the rest of us do not hear.

It’s not the weight you carry

but how you carry it –
books, bricks, grief –
it’s all in the way
you embrace it, balance it, carry it

when you cannot, and would not,
put it down.*

We cannot know, but we can listen.

We can learn.

We can ask, what is it you see?

We can ask, what is it you hear?

Tell me, so I can help you carry.

Tell me, so I can be as thankful and hopeful and joyful as you.

Photo by avhell on Trendhype / CC BY-SA

*”Heavy” by Mary Oliver