Mental Health Awareness

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

Albert Einstein

The effect of last year will have left its mark on many. It will take some time to come to terms with what just happened and repair whatever hurricane Corona destroyed.

I came across the website of the Mental Health Foundation in the UK with an enlightening read.

I would like to share with you the free Nature journal provided by the Mental Health Foundation that I feel we should apply to everyday life helping us practice and maintaining sound mental health no matter our age or what point of life’s journey we are at.

I went through trimester 2 and 3 of my pregnancy during the heat of lockdown in Italy during 2020. You wake up, locked up in your house, the tv depicting the reality outside your four walls, the world completely in silence as streets remain empty, the norm debilitated.

I remember trying to remain as positive as possible in what seemed to be a ball of negativity.

I couldn’t go outside for walks or meet friends and family. I couldn’t walk into a baby store to buy things. My baby shower was virtual and my family couldn’t fly to Italy from South Africa as all borders were closed off.

Prenatal classes were virtual. My husband couldn’t be in the delivery room with me or visit me in the hospital after I gave birth to our daughter. I hadn’t been working since I found out I was pregnant and the future of possible work as a performer was unstable as the world switched off all forms of entertainment. To top it all off my mother-in-law, who lives with us, started her fight with cancer. I honestly felt suffocated by what I did not have the power to change. This is not how I envisioned my 1st pregnancy to be.

I was bringing a child into a world I didn’t recognise or like anymore, and for the 1st time in my life uncertainty scared the living daylights out of me. How am I supposed to give a better world or future to my unborn child when I can’t even see pass my front door?

We are almost a year later and how did I get through that period? I simply focused on my child, she became my world. It was just the 2 of us. I was going to be her focal point and she was to become mine. Everything else was just secondary.

After the baby, I thought things would change, (universal LOL) it got a lot harder. Just add postpartum blues, new virus variants and the day to day dealings of motherhood, and a new found identity crisis to the list above. To complete the scenario, I have to think 5 times about the safety and well being of my daughter. “Lockdown post-traumatic syndrome” is a real thing. I found myself not wanting to go outside and being ok with the “Rapunzel-effect” for fear of putting my daughter into a situation where she gets infected or even us (her Mom or Dad) for that matter. “Who is going to look after her if I am attached to a breathing machine?”

I became delirious with the countless hypothesis of “what if”- being consumed by the proverbial rabbit hole. After hardly leaving the house, I felt the desperate need to get back in touch with nature to ground myself and give me space to breathe, all be it with a mask. It was one of the many things I felt missing since I went into lockdown.

I started small by taking short walks during off peak hours in our parks, introducing my child to real animals, loving the fact that she knows more than just dogs, pigeons and seagulls. We had our 1st weekend as a family away in the mountains on Lake Como, a new fresh experience for all of us (read about that soon). All I did was walk, took off my shoes and let my feet sink into the grass and it felt good. I almost felt back to my old self.

Nature heals and inspires, and it is with the help of nature that I can be a healthier version of myself, for the sake of my daughter as well as myself!

Speak up and speak out,

If your mental or emotional state quickly gets worse, or you’re worried about someone you know – contact your nearest organization. You’re not alone; talk to someone you trust. Sharing a problem is often the first step to recovery.