{"id":4732,"date":"2022-02-28T14:15:59","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T20:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=4732"},"modified":"2022-02-28T14:17:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T20:17:36","slug":"just-another-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/just-another-monday\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Another Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you feel excited about this week or is it just another Monday? Honestly, I\u2019m asking myself this question. I should<\/em> feel excited. After five years of settling family estates, I have no more paperwork left! I could <\/em>feel excited. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the temperature is pleasant. But do I feel excited? Not really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not depressed. I\u2019m making progress on numerous work\nfronts. I have a long list of things I look forward to. But everything is tempered\nby an underlying sense of sadness and loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without context, such a statement seems to automatically trigger\nspeculation about my mental health. Stop it, already. I just happened to fail\nto mention some recent losses. Feeling a sense of sadness and loss in response\nto loss is normal, not bad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling a sense of fear or anxiety in response to real world\nrisk can be perfectly normal and yep, healthy. And we are experiencing a time\nof increased disappointment, risk, and loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling some way besides positive about the state of things\nmay not be any sort of indication of anything other than being well-adjusted. It\ncould signal a person who is well-grounded, courageous, empathetic, and\nresilient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But we seem to have adopted the general view that any emotional struggle is a sign of mental illness. We characterize a victim\u2019s response to trauma as a personal flaw or weakness. Think of the language surrounding Simone Biles\u2019 decision<\/a> to withdraw from team competition at the Tokyo Olympics or Naomi Osaka\u2019s refusal<\/a> to speak to journalists at the French Open. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For both of them, choosing self-care became characterized as\ndealing with mental health issues. Okay, yeees technically any decision made to\nbenefit one\u2019s mental health is a decision based on a mental health issue. But\nthe connotation of the language as it is commonly used is not technical. It\u2019s most\noften othering, condemning, or dismissive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not particularly surprising that a culture that works, consumes,\nbusies, and drinks itself into avoidance on the regular would look away when\nthings get uncomfortable. It is frustrating that in the year since I last\nbroached this subject, I haven\u2019t seen any sort of shift toward self-awareness or\na change in the conversation, just more lip service about removing the stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That stigma supports a Us vs Them, Me vs You divide. We have\ncreated and reinforced many such divides the past few years. They may make us\nfeel more secure or superior for a moment, but they are not serving society\nwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we remove the stigma? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n