A text message from my husband to his family late last week includes:

“I’m grumpy today.”

The subsequent replies from my husband’s family read along the lines of:

“What!? Don’t be grumpy!”
“There’s no point in being grumpy.”
“What’s up with you!?”

And his well meaning father the next day (in all seriousness) says to him over the phone,

hmm.
(Insert my single eyebrow raise here.)

To all this, I say,

Pshaw
Pshaw
Pshaw.

Grumpy is a thing.

So is rainy and cloudy.
And we don’t tell rainy and cloudy it’s wrong for being here.

So bring on the grumpy.
Bring on the tantrums of frustrated.
Bring on the “WTF?”
Bring on the “Heck, yeah!”
Bring on the steaming rage.
Bring on the tears of bottomless grief.
Bring on the fits of giggles.
Bring on the furrowed brows.
Bring on the “eh – who gives a crap?”
Bring on the joyous revere.

Bring on the flurry of fountainous feeling.
It’s all shades of nature.
It’s all a flavor to taste and let go of.
It’s all a sliver of being here.

Sure, you don’t have to add tinder to the flames.
But you don’t have to smother them either.
Trust them. Let them burn down their kindling.
Turn to coals.
Cool to ash.

Go on with your grumpy self.
All of you is welcome.

Journey on starship,
Rachel