Best wishes to everyone for World Mental Health Day!
Here, in Canada, it's also our Thanksgiving Holiday. I am thankful for many things that keep me mentally healthy: fresh air, sunlight, rain, silence, drinking water throughout the day, fresh fruits, house-cleaning, outdoor exercise, reading and writing, puzzles, children and pets ...
Several members have shared that telling someone what they are feeling helps them. Silence can also be an incredibly helpful habit to prevent other people's mental health issues from becoming yours, both in real life and over the internet. If someone is directing unpleasantness at you, accusing you, telling you you're worthless, trying to start a fight or campaigning against you, you may feel that your mood is spoiled and you have to assert yourself to feel better. But take a moment to consider the source. The other person may be aggressive due to a bad diet or envy, or could be determined to misjudge you no matter what you say, or might be desperate for attention after having a bad day for reasons that have nothing to do with you. You don't have to respond on every hater's terms. You can think of a clever retort and not say it, just walk away and let the other person have the last word because you don't need it. Feeling will power and knowing that you haven't deliberately hurt anyone is great for mental health.
Since I don't have a mental health story or any expertise on the topic, I'll just share this Marathi poem by Sandeep Khare (translated into English by me) about a person dealing with real-life stress while imagining his alter ego who is insouciant. That's mental health - face your problems, and at the same time, remember to let go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsEdWvag0WI
मी हजार चिन्तांनी हे डोके खाजवतो
तो कट्ट्यावर बसतो, घुमतो, शीळ वाजवतो !
Mī hazāra cintāṃnī he ḍoke khāzavato
To kaṭṭyāvara basato, ghumato, śīḷa vāzavato!
I have a thousand worries to scratch my head
While he sits on a ledge, humming, whistling!
मी जुनाट दारापरी किरकिरा, बंदी
तो सताड उघड्या खिडकीपरी स्वच्छन्दी
मी बिजागरीशी जीव गंजवीत बसतो
तो लङ्घून चौकट पार निघाया बघतो !
Mī zunāṭa dārāparī kirakirā, bandī
To satāḍa ughaḍyā khiḍakīparī svacchandī
Mī bijāgarīśī jīva gaṃzavīta basato
To laṅghūna çaukaṭa pāra nighāyā baghato!
I'm like an old door, grumbling, stuck shut
He's like a wide-open window, idiorhythmic
I wait, rusting my life against the hinges
He's set to jump the frame and go out free!
डोळ्यांत माझिया सूर्याहुनी संताप
दिसतात त्वचेवर राप, उन्हाचे शाप !
तो त्याच उन्हाचे झगझगीत लखलखते
घडवून दागिने सूर्यफुलांवर झुलतो !
Ḍoḷyāṃta mājhiyā sūryāhunī saṃtāpa
Disatāta tvacevara rāpa, unhāçe śāpa!
To tyāça unhāçe zhagazhagīta lakhalakhate
Ghaḍavūna dāgine sūryaphulāṃvara zhulato!
My frustrated gaze is hotter than the sun
See my tanned skin, the curses of that heat!
He fashions ornaments, sparkling and bright
Of that same heat, rocking over the sunflowers!
मी पायी रुतल्या काचांवरती चिडतो
तो त्याच घेउनी नक्षी मांडून बसतो
मी डाव रडीचा खात जिंकतो अन्ती
तो स्वच्छ मोकळ्या मुक्त मनाने हरतो !
Mī pāyī rutalyā kāçāṃvaratī ciḍato
To tyāça ghe'unī nakṣī māṇḍūna basato
Mī ḍāva raḍīçā khāta jiṅkato antī
To svaccha mokaḷyā mukta manāne harato!
I'm mad at the glass shards stuck in my feet
He takes them and arranges them in a pattern
I cheat in the game and win in the end
That honest, generous, easygoing one, he loses!
मी आस्तिक ! मोजत पुण्याईची खोली
नवसांची ठेवून लाच, लावतो बोली !
तो मुळात येतो इच्छा अर्पून साऱ्या
अन् धन्यवाद देवाचे घेऊन जातो !
Mī āstika! mozata puṇyāīcī kholī
Navasāñcī ṭhevūna lāça, lāvato bolī!
To muḷāta yeto icchā arpūna sāryā
An dhanyavāda devāçe ghe'ūna zāto!
I'm a believer! I measure my merit's depth
I promise bribes, then say we have a deal!
He hands over all his wishes, then visits
Receives thanks from God, and leaves!
मज अध्यात्माचा रोज नवा शृङ्गार
लपतो न परि चेहरा आत भेसूर !
तो फक्त ओढतो शाल नभाची तरीही
त्या श्यामनिळ्याच्या मोरपिसापरी दिसतो !
Maza adhyātmāçā roza navā śṛṅgāra
Lapato na pari ceharā āta bhesūra!
To phakta oḍhato śāla nabhācī tarīhī
Tyā śyāmaniḷyācyā morapisāparī disato!
Each day, I wear new makeup of self-awareness
That can't hide the terrifying face within
He's wrapped in only the sky's shawl, yet
Looks like dark-skinned God's peacock-feather!
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