There was a time in my life when I felt lonely, disconnected, and unfulfilled, not completely whole.
Until I was 17 years old, I grew up in a different sort of circumstance from anyone else I knew. An ordinary comfort was not my privilege.
My everyday living included the not so glamourous uncomfortableness of carrying a pail.
A bucket of what, you ask? A pail of S-H-/-#! SERIOUSLY and LITERALLY!
Let me tell you more…
I was raised by my beautiful grandmother. She didn’t have much, but nevertheless, she took me in after my mother and father left.
My cousins, aunts, uncles, and I had to use the bucket as a toilet for many years in the small 3-bedroom country home, where I grew up.
A part of our regular relief routine was carrying that steel bucket outside and emptying it into the cotton field after use.
That was my childhood.
Little did I know that experience would follow me for more years than I could’ve realized.
I came to realize, later in life, that the “Pail Experience” not only followed me but also represented so much more…
It was my life journey…all the pain, disconnect, loneliness; and, YES, resilience required to make it through.
The bucket is all of the unpleasant experiences and things I went through and found myself challenged to overcome.
This was all living with me, infecting my very being and relationships, creating barriers in my life; unbeknownst to me, I was still living with the pail.