Hi!
Just thought I'd throw some summer at ya.......
This past week had within it, a day that, here in Canada, is set aside to bring attention to mental illness and the misguided stigma attached to it.
It encourages those who are suffering to reach out, and those who aren't, a chance to educate themselves on the subject, get a glimpse into what it can entail.
It opens a conversation to help create an understanding. It shines a light, it strips shame. Some still have a hard time accepting the fact that mental illness is just that, an illness. An illness just like diabetes, hypothyroidism, heart disease, or arthritis.
Some types of mental illness like to hang out with addiction, and vice versa. Some who suffer are only able to pinpoint their illness after self-medicating, desperately trying to make sense out of something that defies logic. Trying to force a tornado into a thimble.
The lucky ones, the ones who have family, or other means of support, find help. They are able to give it a name and begin the journey of managing their illness. Sometimes though, even the luckiest ones, the ones who have an army of support, the ones who do all the work, take the meds, walk the walk, even they can often be swallowed and destroyed by the monster within.
The unlucky, the ones who have been discarded, disregarded, dismissed, the ones without the army, the ones without, don't stand much of a chance. They often end up on the street, where they continue to be dismissed. Left to fend off the monster alone.
The reason I bring this up, the reason I find that I need to, is this.
I still find, in conversation, during which this subject arises, there is still a ton of ignorance out there.
The ignorance takes the form of side-eye, eye rolls, and disbelieving sneers. It takes the form of comments fueled by misinformation, lack of understanding laced with an utter disinterest in actual facts.
With all of the information available from solid resources, when all it takes is a desire and a nominal amount of effort to lift yourself from ignorance, I can't wrap my head around actively participating in this voluntary blindness to what's true.
Facts are important. They do not invite debate. They just are. When something is proven profoundly by countless experts in the field things move from theory to fact. At that point, it is up to us, those who are not experts to accept the facts.
Gravity. DNA. Earth being round. Climate change. Vaccinations not causing Autism. Mental illness. Profoundly proven by countless experts in their particular fields. Facts.
I don't, nor would I ever pretend to be an expert in anything. I have no prestigious letters appearing behind my name, I don't claim an education beyond the lessons life has taught. I can only speak to what I've learned from those life lessons. I can claim knowledge from bearing witness to the heartbreak of those I love most in this world, heartbreak brought to them on the wings of the monster that is mental illness and stigma attached to it.
I'm just me, and there's always more to learn.
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Until next time...
May you find a way to open your heart, open your soul to a belief beyond your own.
May you allow yourself to think outside your practiced box, let your mind be blown.
May you embrace facts, real facts, even if they make you uncomfortable or fearful.
May you give yourself that gift, examine past behavior, past remarks, even if it makes you tearful.
May we throw away every ignorance, every prejudice, every inkling that diminishes anyone that is not "us."
May we instead throw open our arms, embracing all who need it, create a place of peace, disintegrate mistrust.
May you find a way to open your heart, open your soul to a belief beyond your own.
May you allow yourself to think outside your practiced box, let your mind be blown.
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www.margyreidbooks.com
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