(In other words, feel free to come back another day for the positivity, cute doodles & pep talks!)
My dog died on Monday, and I'm not okay.
I've realised that essentially, I'm grieving for her as if she were a person, and that is okay.
She's been my constant companion for almost 13 years, my furry side kick while I work from home, and in my mind, in terms of the friendship & bond we shared, she's just as important as my favourite humans, so why shouldn't I?
I know there will be people who think I'm being over emotional, a bit dramatic maybe, and that's okay too.
Maybe I am over sensitive (actually there's no question about that, I'm the very definition of HSP, which probably is magnifying everything, but doesn't make my feelings any less valid), or maybe they've never had a dog in their life, maybe they just don't get it.
That's okay.
(What's not okay is dismissing someones feelings as "silly" or an "over-reaction" because you don't get it, or telling them to "get over it", making them feel worse in the process... but that's another blog post entirely.)
For the record, I know a lot of you do get it because of all the kind words & messages I've received. Thank you so much, especially those of you who've been through it first hand, it means a lot.
Those messages are part of why I'm writing this (several of you suggested it!) My thoughts and emotions are a tangled, jumbled up mess right now; but I've decided to put them down on "paper" all the same, partly in the hope that it'll be cathartic somehow, and partly because if reading this ever helps anyone in the future feel less alone, or less like their feelings are "silly" or "over-dramatic", then that's a good thing.
So. here we go...