On my regular walk around Tsilivi I often sneak into this one hotel (sneak, as in walk in, head held high as if I own the place😀) to, ummm, well, do what one needs to do.

I’ve only actually stayed at this hotel once, way back in 2001 on my first ever trip here. And almost every time I’m about to walk in, I imagine a challenging conversation, someone asking me if I'm a guest, and me explaining that I have been, once upon a time. And of course, no one bats an eyelid…

On this particular visit, (I’ll spare you the details but it was only a brief standing visit,) I had a thought:

💩Everyone one of us poops.💩

Okay, now this fact may not seem like news to you, it wasn’t really news to me, but it highlights something that seems important and useful to remember.

Thankfully, and with the exception of only one of my friends, none of us shares many details of our pooping. I am particularly grateful my Facebook feed and social media is not flush with such pictures and posts… That’s my personal preference, and I’ll bet it’s a common one.

However, whilst we all poop, we also all get on a downer occasionally. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t have sad thoughts, anxious thoughts, to varying degrees depressive moods, low moods, feeling like a total loser moods, as well as the blissfully happy moods about which we are willing to share.

And for the most part we treat these downers as drowners, like poop, and keep them to ourselves.

Well, I want to remind you that at times WE ALL have shit going on, we all occasionally feel like shit, and life looks shit. And whilst this isn’t an invitation to share, it’s not an invitation to continue hiding either. I just want you to know that, just like pooping, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US experiences a whole range of emotions and perspectives on life. Even the most omming of spiritual teachers I know is fundamentally human.
🤣😢😩😝😁😚🤩😲😡😍

Just because there are no poop pics, doesn’t mean it’s not going on.

You are definitely not alone, and it’s okay. In fact it’s more than okay. It’s really not wise to try to resist the pooping, or resist how you feel.

We really don’t need to hide our humanness from others, or pretend it doesn’t happen. Indeed it’s my experience that people connect most deeply to the humanness we so often try to hide. Anyone who's had a prolonged stay in a hospital will know the camaraderie, connection and compassion that comes from the unavoidable sharing of what it is to be human.

We are loved because we are human, not despite of it.

The thought of this whole analogy between pooping and low moods had me chuckle, as did the subsequent thought about me sneaking into hotels to use their bathrooms to pee…

Maybe I’ll share more of my humanness too. Maybe I’ll start a new movement (see what I did there?) and create an Instagram page of pictures from bathrooms where I go to pee for free.

The Free Pees.
Wotdyafink?

Keep walking. Keep smiling. Keep loving.
Stay regular 🙂