It’s OK to say!
Dear Creative Social crew,
Thank you. It was such a privilege to share my Cannes Lions Festival talk at Creative Social #MiniCannes last night, hosted by the UK Twitter folk, alongside Daniele Fiandaca Trevor Robinson, Shahnaz Ahmed, Jaki Jo Hannan, Nadya Powell, Henry Cowling, Claire Beale, Tom Ollerton, Elizabeth Cherian and Johnny Vulkan (what a super inspiring bunch of humans they all are!). As demonstrated, it is quite a challenge to squeeze a fairly full on personal story into 15mins and I came away a bit disappointed that I didn’t share get to a few important points. So, here is what I felt I missed out. Firstly, I am ok, I’m good, I’m just tired this week and noticing a bit of background anxiety going on, all of which I’m really aware of and managing. I shared at the beginning of the session that I didn’t feel great and I did so in the spirit of having honest conversations — It’s ok to say! A few of you brilliantly and compassionately asked me if I was ok after the talks and panel. Thank you. I’m really ok and I’m going slower for the rest of the week, because I know that’s what I need to do for my physical and mental health right now. I’m still working, but quietly, at home, gloriously in my PJ’s! A different rhythm is required for a couple of days.
Here’s a link to a more coherent version of my ‘Burning Brighter After Burn Out’ story.
What I didn’t say last night, is that I’m grateful for my mental health challenges, I wouldn’t change what happened, I wouldn’t change me. I’ve learnt so much and I’m truly going to be all the better for the experience. What I am trying to improve is the way I live my life so that I don’t experience quite so many extreme ups and downs and so that I’m prepared and know how to deal with any poor mental health I experience in the future.
I’m channelling my great ‘up’ energy to do good things in life that make a difference, like Livity (for young people) and now PJoys (for all people) and I’ve learnt that by going a wee bit slower and shifting some unhelpful ingrained patterns I can hopefully prevent such dramatic and difficult downs and perhaps even achieve more in the long run, but I do accept the anxiety and down/depression times come and I surrender to them and ask for help when they appear. It’s ok to say.
Another message I wanted to share is that poor mental health can, and mostly does, improve and get better, like a headache, or a bad patch of eczema, the flu or even something ongoing like diabetes. It’s all about how you treat it, how you manage it, how you rest and recuperate when it’s not and you’re not great. So, I’ve cancelled my meetings today and tomorrow with an honest explanation and everyone has been brilliant and understood. It’s ok to say.
Here’s the final bit of what I meant to say, but didn’t! What I’ve learnt through this particular poor mental health episode is that:
· Looking after yourself, being kind to yourself is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.
· Mental health (both great and poor) is individual to each and every one of us.
· Daily gratitude, small moments of joy can make the biggest difference.
· Even when you have a clear purpose and passion you might lose it, it might burn out and need to change. That’s ok.
· I used my creativity and entrepreneurial talents as tools to help mend my broken mental health. What are your special powers that you can use to help yourself?
· Making mental health an accepted, everyday conversation is essential, even if it’s a bit awkward at first (it gets easier!)
· It’s easier to be wise and reflective on the other side of it, less so when you’re in it.
1 in 4 of us will experience poor mental health or illness. That means 3 in 4 will know one of the 1 in 4. That means 4 in 4 of us are affected by mental health in some way. Let’s look after ourselves and one another.
We’ve all got mental health. How’s yours today? It’s ok to say.
Finally, I need all the cheerleaders and critical friends around me on my PJoys journey. I was a bit shy to ask last night but if you’re up for supporting me, please drop your deets at the PJoys holding page www.pjoys.co.uk
