So there is NO EXCUSE…
For my sporadic posting schedule or lack of presence on social media! I really want to be a source of support and inspiration for people who may be in need of those two things. The only excuse that I really can give is that I have been struggling to find a good work life balance. For the past few months I have been in my senior semester of my BSW program at my dream school.
(It’s not some Ivy League school, but it has been a really great experience even with certain recent world changing events and illnesses).
With this level of school work has come an internship that I have been grinding hours out, and when I get home I feel like I am spending all my free time either taking care of stuff around the house (apartment), spending time with family, or trying to catch up on the wave after wave of current events.
So I haven’t really been spending much of my time actually putting physical work into the blog, but I have been investing emotional work into being more knowledgeable about current events so I can know what to focus on with this blog.
For this blog post…
I am dedicating time to mention all of the observance days I have missed talking about and why I think they’re important.
- WORLD MUSIC THERAPY DAY – March 1
- ZERO DISCRIMINATION DAY – March 1
- SELF-INJURY AWARENESS DAY – March 1
- WORLD TEEN MENTAL WELLNESS DAY – March 2
- NATIONAL MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DAY – March 5
- Harriet Tubman Day- March 10
- National Plant a Flower Day- March 12
- National K9 Veterans Day-to-day March 13
March first was the national Day several important observances.
The first observance, world music therapy day, is important to me because while I cannot play music very well, or carry a tune at all (just ask my mother!) I know the power that good music has to heal or at least sooth the mind, body, and soul. It can also bring people together as a community.
I don’t claim that music can cure diseases or prevent any disorders, but I do know that recent studies have shown that music from their past can help some people suffering from dementia remember things from their past in a way they can’t when they are not listening to the music.
I also know how much of an impact music has made on my life, I listen to some music every day multiple times a day, in the morning it’s high powered beats to wake me up, in the night and during meditation it’s soothing soft music to calm me into a peaceful trance, and random other types of music at any time in between.
I listen to music based on my mood too and I feel restored. Metal and rock when I’m on a mission or angry that day, blues, soft country, and sad RnB or pop songs when I’m sad, dance music, happy pop (including k-pop) and rock when I’m happy, and jazz and classical when I want to relax. I know there are other genres I listen to, but these are the main ones!
March 1st was also zero discrimination day. I make it a point in my life to always keep an open mind and learn about people who are different from me with all different demographics.
I don’t always do everything perfectly but I try to approach life without discriminating against anyone for any thing, such as race, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, culture or ethnicity, age, weight, disability status, or any other factor. That’s why this observance day is so important to me.
I hear many people complaining of how “woke” everything has gotten and how no one can say anything anymore without offending someone, and while I do not feel people should be put on trial for every unintended misstep, they should also not be allowed to infringe on other people’s rights to safety, freedom, or human dignity. People should not be afraid to live just because of who they are or factors they can’t control (not that any of these factors are bad things or are shameful in any way).
In the instances that we do make mistakes such as misgendering someone, or using a word we thought was correct, but is not (e.x. using the word lame to refer to something being boring). In those situations we should apologize without making the person we hurt feel like we are making it about ourselves and how uncomfortable we are for the guilt we feel.
Instead we need to make our apologies short without excuses or justifying that we had “good intentions” as that doesn’t make a true apology and often does more harm to the person we hurt.
The final observance I will mention for March 1st is a very important one to me. It was Self-injury Awareness Day. I will start this part by saying…
If you are feeling like self harming or any type of suicidal ideations or urges, please seek help immedialy!
There are resources available and there is always hope!
If you feel the immediate urge call 911 or have someone you love call to get you emergency treatment right away.
Then ensure that there are no dangerous objects near you and find a way to separate yourself from any of the dangerous items that may be around.
distract yourself until help arrives either call a friend or loved one, watch funny videos, or there is an app called calm Harm on Android and iOS which has all kinds of tools to get you to a calmer place.
If you are just starting to feel the urges coming on but they are not as strong, still seek help from a trusted friend or loved one, still feel free to use the hotlines and resources I mentioned on my resources page such as…
- 911 for emergency care
- Contact your primary doctor or therapist if you have one
- Take yourself, or have a loved one take you to the emergency room
- Call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to be connected with a trained counselor at a crisis center in the U.S., anytime, 24/7
- Text HOME to 741-741 to connect with a crisis counselor at the Crisis Text Line from anywhere in the U.S. It’s free, 24/7, and confidential.
- If you’re outside the United States, please visit iasp.info
- And still ensure there are no dangerous items around that could be used if you suddenly can’t stop the urges
March 2 was world teen mental wellness day. This day is important to me because I know just how hard teenagers can struggle with large emotions and other pressures being put on them.
Taking a day to focus on their wellness is vital as they will very soon grow into adults in charge of helping run the country.
If we do not ensure our children are healthy and getting the best help they can, we are not ensuring we will have a very bright future.
I know for myself, when I was a teen I was in the foster care system at the start of my journey, then newly adopted feeling like I abandoned my bio family for making that choice once my new parents asked me.
No one should feel like that, and I don’t any more, if you have similar feelings please get help from a trusted adult like a counselor, or a close relative who will understand.
On top of all that personal stuff I had the normal teenage hormones surging through me from puberty as well as mental health challenges, med changes, and the ability to feel emotions started to come flooding back after turning them off for so long.
In short, I was a mess of hormones and terrible life situations and illnesses as a teen, including my budding eating disorder in senior year.
While all of this was going on I heard many times from some adults (who claimed to be well meaning) “you’re a teenager what have you got to be depressed about”.
While I could have probably been more positive about certain events and happenings, and while good things did happen during those years as well, it felt like I had a whole lot to be depressed about and I needed someone to understand me. (I did have some pretty solid supports which is how I got through).
All of this is why March 2 was so important to me.
The next important observance was…
National Multiple Personality Day! I do not struggle with multiple personalities, but when I was young I was misdiagnosed with this condition.
I do struggle with disociation in the sense that in times of traumatic events or intense stress I mentally check out and go somewhere else in my mind, but not in a way that gives me more than one personality within the same body.
While I do not struggle with this disorder, I do understand the hardships that it can bring the people who do, as well as the harm Hollywood movies like “Split” do for these people who are just trying to survive. That is why this observance is important to me.
The next important observance…
Harriet Tubman Day was March 10.
Harriet Tubman was a former slave who fought for her freedom and became known as a famous abolitionist and saved countless others with the development of the Underground Railroad.
That is only a very brief introduction to this historic figure, but she and this day are important to me because without all of the hard work she did and all of the pain she went through, the country would be a very different place where everyone might not have freedom.
For a list of interesting facts about Harriet Tubman check out this PBS article. I am not sponsored by PBS but this is a cool post.
https://www.pbs.org/articles/harriet-tubman-facts-and-quotes/
The second to last observance I missed was…
National Plant a Flower day!
While I did not actually plant a flower for this day (it’s far to cold and snowy where I live this time of year), and while I just learned about this day this year, I still find it very important!
I know I’m not the first person to mention this, but the world is getting kind of rough as far as climate change, pollution, and endangered species dying.
Taking care of the planet hasn’t always been one of my concerns, but in recent years it has become a growing one. I even joined Citizens Climate Lobby as an advocate, though I am still learning. And I have just within the past few years begun learning about the harsh realities of environmental injustice on minority communities.
Don’t get me wrong, planting flowers will not fix any kind of environmental injustice, but planting flowers does do good in our communities, the animals like honey bees and butterfly’s who rely on them, and the rest of the ecosystem that relys on the bees and butterflies doing their jobs.
What I’m trying to say is, planting flowers is harmeless, beneficial, and a step in the right direction.
The final important observance that I missed was…
National K-9 veterans Day!
Ok so all my life I have loved animals, especially strange animals like snakes, but for typical pets I’ve always been a cat person over a dog person. No hate to dogs, I just get scared when the big ones bark!
That being said, I love the dogs in my life, my aunt’s, my brothers’, my grandpa’s, my cousin’s my uncle’s all of their dogs I love.
My favorite dog next to my Grandpa’s which I babysit often, is my mother’s dog that you see in that picture there. In the short time that I have lived here she had bonded with her more than when I was just visiting.
She protects me, comes to me to play with her and take her out to use the bathroom or go on walks, and she lays with me often. Needless to say, dogs are important animals in my life.
Dogs are also very important beings for so many other people around the world. Often times dogs are given jobs that a human would never be able to do.
While they are great at these jobs, and while we need them, they do not go into these jobs by their own choices. They didn’t even close to be breeded down from wolves to the species we know now as our best friends. That is why I love this day that honoring them is very important to me.
Mental Health Blog | Fight4mylife | United States 