take care of yourself

Mental Health Monday  – Time, Take Two

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I received a notification on one of my posts. Of course, I went to see which one, and since it was a MHM and I’ve been struggling with those this month, I took a minute to read it. It was this one–MHM: Time. As I read it, I immediately noticed that it could have been written this week. While Rosh Hashanah isn’t for a couple of more weeks, Tomie de Paola’s birthday was indeed last weekend. I thought about how apropos this post is to my current circumstance. Perhaps it’s the time of year: Back to School, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and this year: Cursillo weekend and starting a new job (yes, you read that right!)

September is also Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and I’ve been wanting to bring it to your attention but haven’t been able to sit down and write about it.

The notification from sammichristopher (thank you!) reminded me that time will still pass and some things won’t get done in the space I’ve planned for them. That’s why I rely so much on lists and calendars, and reminders. In the case of this website, there is always more time. Things can be paused and waited on, and the gravity will not collapse and the world will not stop spinning. In fact, most of the time, no one will notice except me, and I need to just calm the eff down!

Take some time for yourself today and tomorrow.

And even the next day.

I plan to gather what I can for the Cursillo weekend and mail out those important papers, and drive from Aldi to Aldi searching for the compression socks my doctor wants me to start wearing, but first: breakfast, a strong cup of tea, a chapter of a book, and a deep breath, and then the day can go on.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, know that there are resources out there: Call the Crisis Hotline at 988, and talk to someone; get the help you need. Take a step back and take care of yourself.

Happy Holidays!

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This won’t publish until tomorrow morning, but as I write this it is many things for many people today: it’s the day after Christmas, which makes it the First Day of Christmas. It is also the fifth night of Chanukah. It is Boxing Day. It is the first day of Kwanzaa. Please add your holidays in the comments, and I can add them to my yearly calendar for next year.

I had so many intentions for writing and publishing last week, and part of the week before, including a a reflection on gratitude, a short commentary on something my priest said during a homily about everyday is Thanksgiving or at least the opportunity for thanksgiving, the emotional legacy I feel for the new Star Wars movie as well as something Supernatural finale related, holiday photos of our family’s menorah and Christmas tree as well as other shared instagram-type posts. The one thing I really tried to get done was a special Mental Health Monday before Christmas with ways to avoid holiday stress.

Instead of writing about it, and offering some advice I decided to take my unwritten as of yet advice, and not worry about writing and posting (among a few household things). For one thing, every time I looked at my ever increasing list of writing projects, I blanked. I closed the computer or the Kindle, and I walked away. There were presents to be wrapped, cards to be mailed (which had its own special stress for the lateness that they were received by me and losing my address book), our tree wasn’t up yet, our stove wasn’t working and I wasn’t sure how we were going to prepare Christmas dinner*. I tried to write to avoid the stress of the holidays that were on a timeline, and in making an editorial timeline at this time was really stressing me out. Each time I postponed a day’s planned posting, it increased my stress. And this isn’t why I write. While there is good and valuable stress that comes with my writing choices, this last week and some days was truly giving me bad, debilitating stress.

Once I made the decision to not write until after Christmas Day I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

There are six days left to this year, and it’s been quite a year. It is not only a year ending, but an entire decade. It’s kind of a big deal. I will write again before the New Year and then after as I discover which direction I want to travel in with my writing.

My advice for the rest of this week is:

SLOW DOWN.
BREATHE.
TAKE TIME FOR YOU. If you’re working, spend your break times eating, hydrating, meditating, reading or whatever it is that you do for you. At home, take time for you. You’ve worked hard all year; take a little time for yourself.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and have a Blessed and Peaceful upcoming New Year.

*A quick note on these things:

The presents got wrapped.

The cards we ordered from an online photo card store didn’t come, but we did receive another family’s cards. It took a little longer to get our own cards, but we did. No big deal, and an unavoidable delay. I sent the cards out in waves, and it turned out all good.

I found my address book that has ALL of my addresses.

We got our tree and lights up. My son put his Santa hat on the top, and it looks very cute.

Our oven hasn’t worked for months and we are buying a new stove. Unfortunately, it won’t be delivered until the weekend. (My son is already planning on baking a pizza the first night!) Fortunately, a generous friend offered us her countertop convection oven, and Christmas dinner was saved!

It all works out in the end, doesn’t it.