I stood at the sink and felt suddenly very lonely

Dear Delyara, There was nothing especially dramatic about the moment. The children were in the next room, my husband was upstairs, the house was functioning, and I was washing one plate and one mug under warm water with the radio low in the background. And for no obvious reason, I felt this wave of loneliness come right through me. Maybe it was because the moment looked so ordinary and I suddenly realised how much of my life is lived inside these ordinary private actions no one really sees. Cleaning, clearing, preparing, making the next bit easier, carrying everyone through the shape of the house with my hands. I’m not ignored exactly. But there are evenings when I feel so deeply unwitnessed in the small repetitive labour of my life that it hurts. That was one of them.