Stornoway Grey
WIPCS is a non-profit charity which offers confidential, caring support to anyone in the Western Isles who is experiencing any kind of pregnancy-related distress.
Here in the Outer Hebrides we are well used to adverse weather conditions. All year round. Grey days feature prominently, to the point that Landrover introduced the colour Stornoway Gray to their range. Not only that, but it’s reported to be one of their best selling colours and is keeping Stornoway on the map!
Amusing perhaps, but for those of us living under what feels like a constant grey cloud, it’s no joke. It takes its toll on our physical and mental health. When the sun eventually breaks through, the general mood noticeably brightens up. And when the sun’s out, there’s no better place to be.
For those experiencing pregnancy-related distress and grief of various kinds, the cold grey blanket of depression can settle on the soul, shutting the sufferer off from the world, numbing the pain and dulling the senses.
It might sound like a comfort, but is it? When struggling under the cloud of depression, it’s almost impossible to process and express the painful emotions associated with the loss.
A grey day is like a heavy fog,
That blankets us, it’s much too long.
It swallows us in its darkening hug,
Leaves us feeling so alone.
It’s like depression, it won’t just go,
It lingers, lingers and lingers some more.
It weighs us down, and makes us slow,
We can’t find the door.
Brooding, like grief, no words to say,
The deep dark emotion, that’s hard to express.
It just hangs there, a long dark day,
It’s the grey that never leaves.
Like a storm of wild emotions,
Caught in a vortex.
Feels like it’ll never end,
Like there’s no one to help us unfurl.
But then there’s a glimmer of light,
A ray of hope, and a way to survive.
For though the darkness is so deep,
Beyond the horizon, a new day dawns.
(Anon)
Here at WIPCS we want to reach out and help you find the strength not just to survive but to thrive again. We will walk beside you as you process your grief, releasing the powerful emotions which threaten to overwhelm and smother.
It’s a painful process, a journey, ever changing and evolving. A heart that is shattered doesn’t stop beating. The rhythm may change, but it’s not the end of the story. Just as the world looks so different when the sun begins to break through the clouds. It doesn’t mean there won’t still be grey days, but they don’t have to define us.
Apparently local officials protested Landrover’s choice of name for the new grey/silver paint, out of concern for portraying our town in a negative light. The association of grey being dull or boring. “Silvery Grey” was thought to sound better.
What is it that makes us want to make things out to be better than they are? To gloss over the reality, and air brush out the flaws? To not acknowledge grief as the unbearable agony it is? Or to minimise pregnancy-related distress because it’s not considered as significant as other losses?
It’s that fear of facing the depth of raw emotion that makes genuine comforters hard to find. Too often, those who’re suffering pregnancy-related losses have their pain added to by the very ones they thought would be there for them. Instead of offering kindness and support, they cross the street, or dodge down the next aisle, pretending not to see them.
If that is your experience, we just want you to know we’re here for you. You do not have to walk this path alone. Please get in touch and let us support you through these dark days. Until the sun begins to emerge again.
