To have the good fortune to do what I love is something I never take for granted, as I know not everyone is so lucky. It’s taken me YEARS to finally find, feel, cultivate, believe & admit to family, friends, strangers & myself, that I have something of value to offer. There are many reasons for this. As someone who lives with depression & chronic anxiety, it has been a challenge to navigate my way through it. Partly because of the taboo that’s attached to the subject, as well as my lack of knowing how to break through the wall of unawareness in conversations.
It’s important to demystify the stigma that still comes with Mental Health issues. It can be a difficult subject to talk about, it's complicated, but I feel it’s important to do so frankly in order to educate ourselves in the facts, & not inadvertently dismiss our own or another’s experience of it, as it looks different from person to person.
We live in a city, a world, of over stimulation, with a bombardment of conflicting messages as to who & how we should be, this can exacerbate our feelings of isolation, stress & sometimes trigger the traumas we all carry. We have been taught to respond from a fear based perspective, using stereotypes & out dated views that are neither helpful nor true. The good news is, this can be unlearned. In my observations of this town, many people are functioning from a low level of depression & most certainly anxiety. Though I love this city, the only way I can make the most of being here is to leave it from time to time. But not everyone has the finances & opportunity to do that. This is one of the many layered reasons why I truly believe what I do can make a positive difference in people’s lives, because I’ve both experienced & witnessed it.
The first time I went to a Sound Meditation I was irritable & convinced it’d done me no good at all. It was only afterwards I noticed the benefits of my experience. I’m not telling you this to convince you to come to one of my Sound Meditations. My desire is to ask you to take the time to invest in your health & wellbeing as a whole. It is integral to you, those around you & the world at large. To regularly & honestly check in with yourself as to how you are is tanatmount to seeing ourselves & the world as it is.
How many lives do we cross in a day, in our lifetimes? What lasting effect do our thoughts, choices, actions have on ourselves & others? We can all relate to wanting to be seen, heard, understood, love, & be loved. So the next time you go to make a swift judgement about yourself or another’s life experience, know that we are each other’s neighbor on this planet & the space we occupy makes a difference.
If we take the time to at least try to understand what it’s like to walk in another’s shoes, it might just make a difference as to how we walk & talk in our own.
Thank you for making the time to read this & I sincerely send you love & good wishes.
Marsha.X
