An Open Letter

Hello lovely! You don’t really know me… I must seem super creepy huh? I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to come on to strongly…. Should I try again? No? You want me to tell you what I want already? Okay. I’m here because you were having a really hard day! It’s going to be okay though! I wish I could give you a hug, but I’m kind of too far to reach. So please do me a favor. Close your eyes, take a deep breath; in for three and out for five, and wrap your arms around your shoulders and squeeze. That’s my hug from far away!

Okay, now that you’re a bit more focused on us. Please don’t shut me out lovely! I know life is super busy, there are never enough hours in the day. I still love you though, that will never change. Remember though you are important!

Don’t cancel that doctor appointment you struggled to make, because work is begging you; You know they will find a way to cover it! Don’t feel guilty… Easier said, I know. Oh…? You’re saying they will fire you for not covering one shift? Is that threat something they can afford? No probably not, are they treating you like a human? No? The pay is okay though? You can’t survive without it?

Well we all need to earn money to survive in this capitalist world, I get it, but there are just as many dungeons to walk into, and most of them are hiring right now. You really don’t want to start over? Mm, that is a fair point, but you could always do commission type work; like a ride share, or delivery program or even arts. There are plenty of options if you don’t want a new storm cloud shackling you down. It’s scary? Well life is generally scary isn’t it?

Close your eyes, in ten years can you picture yourself smiling? What about your friends, family? Oh? You can’t imagine your friends or family because you don’t get to see them? Your job keeps you holidays, weekends and obscene hours? Haven’t hung out with your friends in weeks? Months? How lonely. You imagined a deadend apartment with cardboard boxes for furniture and foreclosure bank notes? That isn’t pretty is it?

Can you give yourself a moment? Can you feel your body crying out? I hear your joints creaking and your back is locked up from strain, you canceled your spa day and chiropractor for work didn’t you? Is work going to take care of you when you’re laid up? Oh you don’t think you’d have a job when you come back? Is that okay? Can you rely on them when you’re really sick? No? Is that uncertainty going to pay your bills? You kids? Well it doesn’t matter if you can’t make a back doctor, not like it’s a heart specialist. Oh you canceled that too? Well your heart is still beating. You’re getting a paycheck. That’s all that matters? Oh that’s cruel to say?

Well that’s what you’re thinking isn’t it? It won’t matter if you skip the appointment as long as you get paid, you don’t need to call out sick. Oh they’ll look down on you for using sick time you earned? Is it going to be paid out? No? Any bonus for not using it? No? Oh so you just get guilted one way, screwed the other? But that’s the way the world is? No, that's just toxic. You shouldn’t need to cancel a potentially life saving appointment for a job. I don’t care what you do. Even if you’re saving lives, neglecting yourself and sacrificing the lives closest to you is not the way to do things.

Please remember to take care of yourself darling! A dollar is a dollar at the end of the day, yes it can buy things that you need and want. Yet, if you’re not healthy, then what difference does it make if you are wealthy? I mean, you can have all the dollars in the world and be the most miserable person in the world, you could have not a cent to your name and have all the happiness you could ever imagine. Work culture is overly rampant with toxicity right now, and if you take a day for yourself you are not any less of a worker! Please, please, please remember. That day with gramma only comes once, you don’t know how many more card games you can play, cakes you can bake. Your daughter’s dance recitals only come once. Sure your son has baseball every week, but every game only happens once; will you miss it? Balancing work and life is most difficult to do, but the most important thing. Take a breather, you deserve it. Happiness is something you owe to yourself, don’t let the power of a dollar take that from you!!

Remember my dear, you are lovely. You are strong, and beautiful. You are worth a sick day, a day of rest, a vacation and so much more. Please don’t undersell yourself, because you are not all of the trash you hear every day. Today you are even stronger still, you woke up today and moved forward. That small smile you are hiding from the mirror is beautiful, please don’t hide it. There’s no reason to muffle your laughter, or hold back your tears. You are human love, and we all have emotions. There is no need for you to suffer in silence, share your tears and share your smile.

You are everything you ever thought you could be, and so much more. You are amazing and you are the champion of your own life; thank you for being here to read this today. You are loved. You are strong, tomorrow is waiting for you my dear. Shall we turn the page together, to a happier tomorrow?