Happy May Day!
It's officially my favorite month of the year, not just because it's my birth month (I'll be turning 32 in a few weeks, woohoo!), but also because the outdoors already feels so much softer, warmer, and greener...
May is also Mental Health Awareness Month ever since they chose this month back in 1949. Just did the math and that's 75 years ago, wow!
Could be that they chose May because of its budding spring energy, the anticipation of summer on the horizon, and the hope that the sun will come out and play after a series cold months. Feels a bit like a metaphor.
Either way, honoring mental health has felt important to me ever since I became fully aware of my own family member's struggles, which was back in high school when I was 15.
We were in Florida as a family for Spring Break and my dad had to stay for a conference towards the end so my mom, my sister, and I had our flights planned to go back home together.
Once we got to the airport, we realized my mom wasn't mentally stable. What we didn't know at the time was that two of her medications were interacting poorly which led to a very public manic episode in front of the gate we were supposed to depart from.
To be clear, my mom has never been violent during an episode, but she loses touch with reality. So much so that we missed that flight, my mom got tranquilized, then taken away by security.
While we waited for my dad to come pick us up, my sister and I were totally dumbfounded and shocked. "What the hell was that? Where did they take her?" Those were the main thoughts that cycled through my mind.
I'll never forget what a man sitting at the gate told my sister and I, "Don't worry, this is more common than you think. The same thing happened to a friend of mine while we were skiing. Everything's gonna be ok."
This stranger cut through the confusion and shame that we had as my mom's daughters and also reminded us to not feel responsible for what had just happened.
It also wasn't my mom's fault. She has bipolar disorder, and while I had never seen it in full swing up until that point, it has deeply affected the way my mom navigates friendship, work, and home life.
She's mostly stable because she takes her medication regularly but when she's even slightly unstable, people in the past have turned on her. It's a core wound that runs deep.
When I saw her in the mental hospital the day after, she was calm, serene, and totally aware of what happened. She immediately apologized and I could see in her eyes that she hoped this didn't mean we would turn on her too (tearing up as I write).
I never did and I never will. She's my mom. Bipolar disorder and all. And my respect for her multiplied as I saw her journey through the post-episode process.
After they released her, she accepted what happened, asked for forgiveness, and navigated through it with grace. That's partially what inspired today's video.
In it, I share...
- My raw and real experience witnessing mental health struggles.
- Three mental health truths inspired by my mother's journey.
- Ways to heal, move through, and expand your own mental health.
Click here to watch and know that I'm holding you so tightly with love if you find yourself in the middle of something like this, whether in your own experience, as a witness, or both.
When you're in the thick of mental health challenges, emerging out of them can feel almost impossible. But I promise there can be light at the end of the tunnel. My mom is proof of that.
All my love,
Kimberly
P.s. If you know anyone going through something difficult right now, send this blog to them. They'll thank you for it <3
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