This week, just a gentle hug for those nursing friends and relatives through long term illness. It comes with an added bolt-on, too: guilt. That constant nagging feeling of am I doing enough? Am I neglecting the people around me? Am I getting worse at my job because I need to care for someone? Am I a bad person for thinking any of this, and not just concentrating on the person who’s ill? If any of these resonates, then this post is for you. Just as they may have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes of your life, you equally are unlikely to know what’s going on in theirs. We say this quite a lot in Geeks Vs Loneliness pieces, but it’s true: we each only get a two dimensional snapshot of most people’s lives. We don’t know their loves, hates, kinks, problems, issues, health and such like in great detail. And that’s fine. But conversely, it’s okay to be a human being. It’s okay to open up. Perhaps even more importantly, it’s okay not to feel guilty. You don’t have to. You still need to earn a living and pay the bills. You still need to look after yourself. This doesn’t make you a bad person. It’s a by-product of the complexities of life. See? Told you there were no magic answers here. But what you can have, for what it’s worth, is a great big ball of support from us. You are entitled to a life, and we dearly wish it’s a good one. We write about a lot of superheroes at this site. But the most humbling, wonderful heroes are the ones we don’t see, who don’t wear a cape, who instead take time out of their lives to selflessly care for another human being. To those people, have a virtual coffee and a virtual biscuit. And please know that you’re important, and that you matter, and that you’re brilliant. No matter what games your head may be playing with you. Thanks, as always, for reading.
