Have you checked in on your mental health today?
No, this isn’t some slogan or the jingle for a radio commercial. Maybe it is. If it is, no one tell the copyright holder. What I mean is, have you checked in with yourself lately?
I watch a YouTube channel called Kinging-It without fail almost every Sunday (it was Monday this week). And the sponsor of their video was Headspace, a meditation app that Craig (of the Kinging-It couple) uses to check in with himself on a regular basis.
While I’m not meditating yet (I’ve thought about it), I found myself in a similar position last night after finishing the series finale of Orange Is The New Black. The position of needing to check in with myself.
I’m feeling sad. Not depressed, just sad. I think it’s because my favorite season is fading, Aaliyah started a new school year, and maybe the bleakness of OITNB as a reflection on the real-life horrors of the prison system. I also have been miserably failing at recording Hyphen Nation (my podcast) and I can’t move on to other projects until I’m able to say what I need to say there.
It’s important that I recognize that I’m sad though. I spent years denying my feelings and burying them beneath the surface. And it wasn’t because I was taught that way; it was because I didn’t want to burden anyone else with my problems. So, burying my feelings led to bigger depression bouts (that I was barely acknowledging) that affected my friends and family around me. And encouraged bad habits (see the 2008 section in the life of Kelen Conley).
But now, by being transparent with myself about how I’m feeling and why I’m feeling this way, I think I have a better grasp on my mental health. Sure, I’m going to have periods of depression. And yes, there will be times when all I want to do is be alone. But by being able to express those feelings to myself, it helps me express those same feelings to loved ones as calmly as possible, so they can then try to support me the best they can.
I really can’t express the importance of mental health enough. Now, how about those links?
Photo by Tim Cross.
My full performance of Fixed Fight with E and Strizy.
I back on Tumblr. I mean, I had an account sitting dormant for sometime, but I reopened it.
We talked about MLK’s favorite wrestler on a Rasslecast from last November.
This week’s Stray Shots.
This month’s Victory Jumpoff Radio playlist sees me putting ladies first. I feel like I could do another.
Marc Rob takes a look at Barbie’s deservedly so, underrated hero, Allan.
I don’t know if this discourages me from Burning Man, but it was a mess this year.
I hope this is the last I hear of CM Punk’s wrestling days.
Here, get this earworm stuck in your head too. I’m going to rap over this.
My YouTube video of the week.
From Hyphen Podcast Group