Are you OK?

I took a friend out for lunch today. She looked the same as when I first met her.

The fact is that she has been suffering from major depression and has been hospitalised since December. I was meant to take her out for lunch three weeks ago but that plan got cancelled because she tried to take her own life.

You wouldn't be able to tell the immense burden she is carrying if you walked past her on her streets. That is the nature of mental health issues. It can be invisible.

Unfortunately, we as a society are still not very equipped in dealing with mental health issues. Often a taboo in society, it can be deemed as 'weakness'.

I pray that people will not shy away from talking and sharing about their mental health. It's ok. Early intervention is the key. If someone tells you that they are sad or feeling stressed, please please please listen, please do not jump the gun and give some generic advice like 'don't worry about it', 'don't think about it, I get stressed as well'. Don't compare your pain to theirs. Pain is such an individual experience.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your shoulder. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" - Jesus.

Much love.
Michelle, 22 degrees.

Brain break

My lecturer used to post random pictures of his cat as a brain break between heavy bits of text during his classes. So here's a brain break after my wordy post. Hehe.

Here we go...

I thought about my blog late last night. So, I looked it up and had a good dose of nostalgia. I had two blogs. One was started when I was in Adelaide. The other, in Melbourne. I am now starting a blog again, here in Brisbane.

I tried to recover access to my last blog but failed to. I felt some sense of loss, like a part of me that was penned onto a page but was not for me to have control over anymore.

Too many thoughts, too complex...Michelle. I often received these remarks from friends. I tried fighting it for a period in my life, trying to be 'simpler', thinking surely that would be the solution to joy. Now, I just tell them, it is how I am wired. It is how God has designed me to be....multifaceted, complex, and yet still loved.

I want to chronical my thoughts again. I hope to post some photos. Maybe a few videos of me playing the guitar too. I want to pen down and remember the many blessings that God has given me. Forget, often I do about the good stuff amidst the mundane and the occasional sorrow.

Maybe, it is for the best that I stop looking back and start looking ahead. Perhaps, the symbolism is in the loss of access to my old account. Chasing utopia was the title of my previous blog. It was what I thought would make me happy but it proved a futile effort to find a place or state of ideal perfection. I think I am coming into my skin more and more as I approach 30. Eek! Utopia can only be found in heaven. It is only a chase around the rabbit warren for me to find it here on earth. Until then, I want to keep fighting the good fight, I want to finish the race, and I want to keep my faith.

For nostalgia sake, here are the links to my previous blogs:
http://jillyrux.blogspot.com.au

http://michellesutopia.blogspot.com.au

Much love,
Michelle, 28 degrees.