FAWM: "Just Keep Showing Up"

Just Keep Showing Up

There is no demo for this song.

Liner Notes

FAWM has been a harder experience for the last... several years. As a full time therapist for incredible queer, trans, neurodivergent humans, I have found it to be a battle to find energy for creativity. But I'm trying, and when I was thinking of "just keep showing up" for FAWM, even if I'm behind, even if it's hard, I also realized I was writing about that very same job. Here's the result. Hoping to get back to it for a demo.

Lyrics

Surely no one wants to hear that their therapist is scared That they don't know what to tell you That they simply weren't prepared In their classes and their research For mass shootings, genocides, for Coronavirus raging on to claim so many lives That there was no ethics class to cover confidentiality When we're working from a closet so our kids can't see our screen And we log off between holding space and cry so we don't scream

Maybe no one wants to know that their therapist is sick When they tell their morning client to be careful how you pick and choose the length of time you take to read and watch the news But then talk to seven more that day about the things they've viewed That it felt like they could breathe again when science saved the day But the narrative was flipped just so billionaires can play and we hold the hands of those most hurt along the way

And we just keep showing up Armed with nothing but our presence and our words Yes we'll just keep showing up So if nothing else your story will be heard

But I've learned that many WANT to know their therapist's enraged That we're done with apolitical And won't keep our feelings caged When your fears are not distorted thoughts but sourced from empathy We aren't here to challenge cognitions we're here to help you see That you aren't wrong to feel despair but let's try to survive Find the things that you can do to make a difference in one life And find meaning in the agency you still hold in these times

And we just keep showing up Armed with nothing but our presence and our words Yes we'll just keep showing up So if nothing else your story will be heard

Comments

@eringoblog 1w

This is beautiful, and so real right now. We allneed the reminder to keep showing up.

@skylermf 1w

I like the repetition of things people may or may not want to know about their therapists in the first lines, especially the first “no one wants to know their therapist is scared.” I can’t imagine what it must be like to work in therapy right now, especially with a focus on lgbt clients (is client the right word? patients?)

@alyxanderjames 1w

This is powerful, friend. I'm not a therapist but I do similar care work as a side gig and can definitely relate to a lot of these feelings. Indeed, we just keep showing up and bearing witness, because sometimes that's all we can do, and surprisingly often, it does help. 💜