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Hey Fearless Penguins!
The holiday season can be pretty tough for anyone, all the (awkward) family get togethers, financial strain, unmet expectations etc. Add mental health issues and all these frustrations can be magnified to the point where the whole season can seem unbearable. And yet, inspire of all this, I really like Christmas. There is a warm communal sentiment that can be found away from all the frenzied box stores and rampant consumerism.
Two years ago, I wasn't allowed to go over to my Mom's on Christmas Eve, because she had lymphoma and I was sick, and yet I found what my heart was seeking in the back of a church I'd never been to before. A slightly wild looking teenage girl sat beside her very prim and proper mother and was drawing pot leaves, much to her mothers dismay. I took out some drawing materials from the pew and drew her an angel. In return, she graffitied the most beautiful words for me, "god gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers." At that moment I knew we are all connected and I felt a sense of validation for all my struggles with my mother's illness and my mental health. I really believe that "God" works through people and signs, and that sometimes, when we least expect it, we will see that a divine presence has been guiding us all along and honors the courage it takes to "fight" mental illness.
Speaking of "fighting' mental illness, I have a couple awesome tools in the video I've included.
I don't really like the idea of fighting it, but more empowering ourselves through self understanding and compassion and learning to challenge or change our relationship with the parts of ourselves that we don't understand and that give us grief. For me, I have a way better time understanding and getting to the root of some of my depressive symptoms if I take care of myself. These time management and mood tracking strategies do a lot for me, and help me get the most out of my life. Hope you enjoy, and can take even one grain of salt from these tools.
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