Hope IS important

Where do I start with last night’s Word of Mouth event? Well I not going to start with last night’s event because it doesn’t matter so much about the event it was all about the woman who spoke and took us on an amazing journey. A journey that left the audience touched, moved, inspired and close to tears.

Star Linus starting talking to us but Shelly Pitcher finished and we discovered why she is more than just the woman who stood in Oxford with some signs of encouragement. What she described was a journey of self discovery of becoming the woman that she had always wanted and meant to be. It was like witnessing a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, or in Shelley’s words the phoenix rising from the ashes.

Shelley told us about how she had spent six years helping her husband with M.E and Bipolar Disorder and described the pain and the struggle of watching the man you adore struggle through life. When he didn’t want to go on anymore she encouraged him to do the one thing he had always wanted to do and make his album. Which he did but once he was back on his path what would she do?

She thought, what words of encouragement would I have needed someone to say to me in the last six years to get me through the hard times. And she said those things for 40 days with her signs in Oxford. Things like:

“Keep hoping, keep dreaming, hope keeps dreams alive.”

“Be who you were born to be.”

“Believe in you- even if no one else will.”

And it taught her so much. To stop caring what people think and that everyone is just trying to get through, so don’t judge others.

Shelley also talked about the myth of the mid-life crisis. Describing it as a part of life that is as natural as adolescence but with little written about it other than cliche and very little written about women. This is something Shelley wants to talk about more and I hope she does.

When I met Shelly Pitcher I knew I had met an awe inspiring person. Just spending a little bit of time with her and I am looking at things differently. The things that she said, her attitude and her words of encouragement have really helped.

I know the women who came to Word of Mouth last night feel different today. In the same way that Shelly told us that the power of hope is illogical so is the power of Shelly, it is just an amazing force.

If you missed last night, read Shelley’s blog