Sadie's Gathering : A Word About Hard.

No special meaning, just a nice summer photo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Where to begin?

As you might have guessed a few days ago, money, or rather not enough money was gnawing at my thoughts. I, for the first time ever, included in a post, at the bottom of the post a gentle reminder, that Sadie's Gathering is solely mine, and as such I do not make any money from it, no matter how often I write, etc. As often happens, now I'm feeling more at ease with my situation, though essentially nothing has changed, only my point of view.

I talked with a couple of friends. As we hashed for a few minutes I was reminded,

NOBODY HAS A MONOPOLY ON HARD.

For me, I receive countless emails a day requesting $1, $8, or whatever I can spare, for many causes and people that I do believe in. Trouble is, my expendable income is nowhere close to the size of my heart. It's not even a fraction.

But it's cool. Because apparently there are a few good hearted folks, that can put their money where their hearts are. Bless them. Here's hoping' someday I join them.

Tonight a young woman came to my door and we sat down and chatted. She was part of a group that tries to bring about second chances. At the beginning she assured me she wasn't selling anything. Later she revealed, there was a motive other than pleasant conversation. When she came to what she hoped for monetarily, I could not in good faith give what was needed. Not because I didn't believe in her or second chances, but because I knew what bills needed to be paid, and what was around the corner for our family. She left in a huff. I understood. Wished she would have tried to understand my side.

Today, after talking to a couple of friends and neighbors, I'm not certain it was legitimate. But no matter, c'est la vie.

The point is, we all do hard. At different times, it will be in greater degrees than others. Many times hard times will come when we are better able to weather them, and some times the hard times can come close to breaking us.

HOLD ON. Whether it's a change of factors, the actions of a friend, or just your own perception, change is a coming.

In Words of Wisdom, there's a bit that I try to remind myself often as I do my daughters:

-In life when considering your position or state of being, remember: there are always many that have it way worse than you do; and many of the ones that have it better often don't have the good sense to appreciate it.

Even if they do, they still know hard. Somehow.

All you can do, is keep your head up, keep the faith and go forward.

Years ago, when I first moved to Chicago, I lived on Diversey, and frequented the shops in the area. That wass nearly 25 years ago, and the area has changed quite a bit. On the west side of where Clark and Broadway criss cross, on the south side of Diversey, there was a Barnes & Noble's at the time. I had just exited the store and was walking east toward my studio when I witnessed a moment I'll never forget.
In front of the Walgreens that was on the north eastern corner of Broadway and Diversey, there were two homeless people rummaging through the trash cans at the doors of the drugstore. I don't remember if I was feeling strapped at the time, or optimistic about the future. I noticed them, and what they were doing, as sadly in Chicago, that's never been an uncommon scene. Then, they stood up, embraced and shared a tender kiss. It was beautiful. More than that; it was life affirming. I remember wishing I'd had my camera, because it was a Doisneau moment, if I'd ever had one.
With that I'll close with a quote from the famed photographer:

"There are days when the simple act of seeing appears to be true happiness."

- Robert Doisneau