Remember This by George Somers
In Young Carers Action Day 2021, young carers and young adult carers shared poems to express their feelings of being what being an unpaid carer is like. The challenges, stresses and issues they face on a daily basis and how there needs to be more support.
sometimes, I feel I'll lose my mind
hope strays further getting harder and harder to find
each time I try to keep myself together
surely this can’t be my forever
don’t get me wrong, I don’t think others “have it better”
I just want them to understand
how hard it is for carers like me to make a stand
have our voices heard, our actions seen
as all our lives we’ve hidden behind the scenes
keeping our cool, trying our best
even when we’re long overdue a rest
every second we spend not doing feels wrong
like we're meant to always keep going along
without stopping even sleep seems a waste of time
fearing we've forgotten to do something every single night
like we've committed a heinous act
when that couldn’t be further from fact
we need time to ourselves
or more so to be ourselves
whether it’s reading a book or writing one
going out with friends and having fun
we all need that time away
away from our role and to take a break
that means you, yes you
the one relating so hard to this
it feels like you’re the one who wrote it
I know it’s hard to give yourself a break
so you here are some notes you need to take
- resting does not mean you’ve given up
- recharging does not mean you weren’t enough, far from it, in fact you’ve probably done too much
- take a seat, pause and breathe deep
- it is vital to take care of yourself; especially when your role is to look after someone else
- you have a right to feel free and able to breathe, you have a right to have many moments of peace
and remember this,
there will always be someone out there willing to listen and offer support, all you have to do is be willing to let them