For a long time now, I’ve had this idea percolating and circling around my mind. This idea of feeling alone, but not actually being alone. Or perhaps there’s one other person on the planet who feels like we do, who has experienced similar situations to us, but we don’t know them. So, that random person out there can’t really help us all that much in feeling less alone or in creating a shared experience.
Let me back up a minute and tell you how this idea even started. Ten years ago, in my early 20s, I started seeing clients for psychotherapy. I’m a social worker and a psychotherapist. But before I had earned both those titles, I was a graduate student sitting in appointments with my first handful of clients. I should add the caveat, social workers are generally highly supervised for the majority of their first five years in practice. I don’t want you all to think a 23 year old version of myself was flying off the cuff offering feedback to others. But, I digress.
Anyway, from the day I began seeing clients to 10 years later, two common themes emerged. The first is, “do you understand what I’m saying?” And the second is, “do any of your other clients feel like this? Do you think other people have had this same feeling?”
The answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Yes, I totally hear what you’re saying. I may not understand in a celluar deep down sense of “I have had that same experience” but I definitely hear you. Loud and clear. On some level, I get it. And guess what? A lot of other people feel this way too. You might not know them- because sometimes we hide or feel we need to hide a lot of our lives- both pain and joy. You might not know them- because sometimes there really is no one down the street or in our lives who does feel the same way or is going through a similar situation.
Out of those musings and experiences, Anybody Like Me was born. There is someone out there like you. Maybe not everybody else, but a lot of people on this planet feel similarly to you (there are about 7.4 billion of us) and you’re definitely not the only one feeling the way you do, at least from what I can tell from over here. And while I’m not sure if anyone will read this, or if they feel more connected to Earth as a result (always dream big!), I decided to give it a try and see what happens.
All of this to say, welcome aboard, explorers. Let’s do this thing. Come and join me. If you have a story, I want to hear that too. You can email me at: anybodyouttherelikeme@gmail.com
I ask two things, readers. One, please read with an open mind and heart. This website/blog is about connecting, not furthering isolation. And two, thanks. I guess that isn’t an ask. It’s a thanks. Thanks in advance for reading. And away we go…
Copyright © 2020 Melissa A. Frey, LCSW. All rights reserved.
Great post