Listening brings understanding & blog hop...

If you didn’t catch Stirrup Queens post earlier this week about discussing infertility, you’ve got to click over and check it out. As always, it’s incredibly well written and delves into the fact that it’s not just a matter of us talking about infertility, but also the need for people to actually listen to what we’re saying. I think that it’s likely all of us who have been open about our infertility struggles in real life have encountered ignorance as a result of that, and the fact that people often respond with judgment and unhelpful advice further ads to the frustration. I hope that in time understanding of infertility and assisted reproductive medicine will improve, and that the legislation surrounding mandated coverage will follow suit.

Those of you in the BLM community have probably seen that Franchesca has started the Small Miracles Blog Hop, and the topic this month is hope. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to join the hop and discuss what has brought you hope lately.

Of course this pregnancy has brought hope and continues to, but I think that the gift that allowed this pregnancy to occur in the first place is what truly brings me hope. Hope not just for me personally, but for the broader humanity that is the world in which we live. The fact that there are people like our donor family who care enough to reach out to us, a family half way across the country who they didn’t even know before, and to take the massive leap of faith of entrusting us with their embryos fills me with such hope. Hope that there continues to be incredibly good people and amazing acts of love that exist in this world. I think as a society we tend to focus so much on negative, tragic, and awful circumstances that we lose sight of all the compassion and kindness that occur as well. That is the hope that propels me forward and leads me to believe that although there has been a lot of sadness this past year, ultimately our future holds joy and memories to embrace.

Lastly, had to share this beautiful article. I loved how the author described how grief, while always a part of us, changes throughout our lives. “It seems that the longer we’re here experiencing the ride of life, the more life gives and takes from us. In this journey, our souls, like tattooed bodies, hold the patterns of brightly blooming, colorful pain that burns and slowly heals over time until it fades into the outline of our memory – still there, always there, but never quite the same.”