When you feel like the odd one out.

Early on in lockdown I received an invite to a weekly online event that I wasn’t too sure of the details of. ☺️

It had been pitched as a space for calm, connection and being yourself. 🥰

I ditched out first time when nerves got the better of me. 😬

But the next week, I logged on at 8am, newborn baby in my arms, feeling thoroughly out of place and open to judgement. 🤱🏼 

No one else had kids and appeared to be sitting in a space that was already quiet and calm. 🧘‍♀️ 

Then, the host invited us to check in with the group and briefly share how we were feeling. 😦

I felt my cheeks instantly flush, my head raced with worrying about whether my son would start crying, what I would say, whether I should actually just go ahead and leave before we’d even begun. 😳

When it came to me I was so flustered that I couldn’t really do anything else but roll with it. So I told the group about my nerves and my reservations about coming along. 🙄

And that was the start of it. ✨

It felt so incredibly refreshing to be able to turn up in a space and just speak out loud how I was feeling. 😍

I went back week after week for this very reason. 

I felt accepted and heard. No advice was given, just listening and reflections on what I said. 👂 

And what I learned was at the very heart of it we are all very similar. We struggle with similar things and face similar challenges deep down.

I later learned that the event I went to can be referred to as circling. And this week on the podcast I’m chatting with Gemma Brady, founder of Sister Stories. With her offering Gemma aims to spread connection, compassion and community through the power of gathering in circle. Tune in to hear more, both about what circling is, what it can offer, and why it might be worth trying out.

You can listen to the episode HERE.