What I read this Week that resonated

“On Earth, just a teaspoon of neutron star would weigh six billion tons. Six billion tons equals the collective weight of every animal on earth. Including the insects. Times three.

Six billion tons sounds impossible until I consider how it is to swallow grief-just a teaspoon and one might as well have consumed a neutron star. How dense it is, how it carries inside it the memory of collapse.

How difficult it is to move then.

How impossible to believe that anything could lift that weight.

There are many reasons to treat each other with great tenderness. One is the sheer miracle that we are here together on a planet surrounded by dying stars.

One is that we cannot see what anyone else has swallowed.”

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

If you’ve been following for awhile you’ll know that I am a reader. My love for words started when I was young, but remained dormant throughout most of my 20s and was reignited when I became a mother. With my first born, the early days were filled with nap times and sleepless nights, which is when I learned to fill the quiet moments with books. Motherhood brought with it a need to understand myself and our existence better. I traded fiction for non-fiction and filled my spare hours with words from Cheryl Strayd, Marianne Williamson, Lori Gottlieb, Bianca Sparacino, Michael Singer, Briana Wiest, Brian Weiss and many others that would change my life and the way I viewed the world. From time to time I come across a piece of writing that stops me in my tracks and really makes me think, which is why I shared this short poem. A reminder of all the hard times we all endure that no one will ever see, or ever talk about. Whether it’s the challenges of early motherhood, raising children, grappling with a new relationship dynamic, life is hard, and at some point suffering is inevitable. The powerful reminder we all need is the recognition of everyone’s humanity. I hope this did just that for you.