You're Not in This Alone

by Jennifer AlLee

Human contact. It’s one of those essentials of life that we often overlook. Oh sure, we have contact with our immediate families, but that’s not always enough.

Take the writer, for example.

Writer’s think differently than normal people. (That's right. We're not normal and we're proud of it.) We see what ifs everywhere. We hear the voices of our characters talking to us… and we talk back. We also deal with more assaults to our self-esteem and emotions than you’d think. Often, they come from outside sources, but just as often, they come from ourselves. Talking to a spouse might help, depending on the severity of the situation. Nine times out of ten, even though they try, the non-writing spouse won’t understand why it’s a big deal.

So what’s a writer to do when she feels particularly vulnerable, her armor more dented than the surface of the moon? Reach out to the only people who truly understand her: writing friends.

You can take the word “writer” and substitute any other you choose: Secretary, CEO, pastor, teacher, stay-at-home mom, dental hygienist, and on and on and on. Sometimes, the only way to get out of the doldrums is to have your friends pull you out. And the best friends for the job are the ones who know what you’re going through.

Of course, God knows this.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:24-25, NLT)

He’s talking to members of the early Christian church. Now there was a bunch who really needed to band together. They were persecuted. They faced attacks on a daily basis. Who else but another Christian would understand?

Notice, He doesn’t tell them to get together and pretend that nothing bad has happened. He doesn’t tell them to ignore each other’s pain. He tells them to exhort each other, lift each other up.

In our modern world of emails, Facebook, and such, there’s no excuse for being alone. A timely email message from a friend across the country means just as much as going out for coffee and a chat with your friend from across town. Take some time to reach out today, whether you need to be uplifted, or you think of someone else who could use an emotional boost.

We’re all in this together.

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Jennifer AlLee was born in Hollywood, California, and grew up above a mortuary one block away from the famous intersection of Hollywood & Vine. Now she lives in the grace-filled city of Las Vegas, which just goes to prove she’s been blessed with a unique life. When she’s not busy spinning tales, she enjoys playing games with friends, attending live theater and movies, and singing at the top of her lungs to whatever happens to be playing on Pandora. Although she’s thrilled to be living out her lifelong dream of being a novelist, she considers raising her son to be her greatest creative accomplishment. You can visit her on Facebook, Pinterest, or her website.