"Don't Shame Yourself"
Don’t ever 
 shame yourself 
 for showing up, 
 admitting or sharing, 
 only to be shutdown 
 or even ghosted. 
 To want to reach out 
 and describe your struggle 
 and be understood 
 is better than holding 
 it all painfully inside 
 and to never be seen.
It’s all humanly real.
The risk to be 
 honest and open. 
 The exposure from 
 connecting outside 
 vulnerability. 
 The enormous courage 
 it takes to let your 
 truth be revealed.
And know in turn, 
 not everyone can respond 
 in the way you expect 
 and believe — 
 or perhaps at all, 
 sometimes.
But, don’t ever 
 shame yourself.
Don’t diminish 
 your light 
 for expressing 
 or become conditioned 
 to not ask for help 
 in your time 
 of great need.
*
 by Susan Frybort from the book "Look to the Clearing" Poems to Encourage
 Art by Jeanie Tomanek
 
            
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