It’s Friday today for 24 hours! Have you noticed how they accumulate so fast? This is each of our lives. Hold that gift seriously, and remember how you got where you are today. Real gratitude! TGIF, even!
May is usually a spiritually challenging month for me. Between my Mother’s birthday and Mother’s Day, I can be seen bouncing off the walls or just standing in a hall at work with tears in my eyes! While I remember playing trombone with the Highlands Jr. High marching band during a huge parade held annually in my hometown of White Plains, NY, for Memorial Day, that celebration has taken on a different meaning in these times of war and destruction. It is more important for me to remember that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Last Monday on Mother’s Day, I felt very alone … strange even. When no more tears were left to cry, I found myself searching a lot inside. While I have a daughter, she has chosen to keep my grandson away from me for some petty, childish reason. I can handle that because I didn’t harm or bother either of them. There were NO family members of mine to wish a Happy Mother’s Day. I could only celebrate that special day by remembering the love, help, and tireless support from my Mother, who would be 107 on her birthday on May 20th. I stayed alone with my puppy Mila, who had her first birthday on the weekend of May 3rd. May she continue to rest in Eternal Peace.
May is also considered to be Mental Health Awareness Month! While I have never been diagnosed to visit a mental health facility, nor have I ever been “depressed,” as I hear many people say, somehow, after contemplating suicide once in my teenage life when I got shipped off to a boarding school, my Mother has often served as my mental health specialist. When I taught at White Plains High School for ten years, I became aware of the challenges that poor mental health can create. I’m sure some conversations I had with some of my students helped them over that chasm. You see, I have been extraordinarily blessed or fortunate, if you will, to have made it with the guidance and love of my Creator through some extremely difficult times with substance abuse and just pure anger, to come out on the “other side” with minimal repercussions and damage. To this day, I carry my Mother’s love with me so that when I need a dose of “unconditional love,” I can find peace and solace with the memories of her … and my Dad … my Rock!
To this day, I meditate and pray to get heavy things off my chest and out into the universe to be handled by my Creator and the universe. It’s something that I have learned through experiences from incarceration to divorce, broken relationships, and the like. Nowadays, I feel fortified spiritually and can stand up to average trials and tribulations. I have an open heart to those who struggle with such things, and I seek to be “a power of example!” “You can make it if you try!”
There is such a thing for me as mental health conditioning. That’s why I write and try to illuminate such situations as being bullied or lied to. One cannot allow such things while caring for one’s mental health. I also have learned that some mental health conditions require the expertise of a professional. When I first attended Princeton, I dabbled in psychology courses to see if that was something that I wanted to pursue. I stayed with education courses and dabbled in social psychology. Nowadays, I don’t try to “people please” nor surround myself with people who seem a bit off balance in their approach to life. Talk with someone close to you who you know is mentally balanced and can serve as a sounding board for you in critical times. It’s not an easy job, but be humble enough to care for yourself and your mental health. There’s no shame in admitting (and seeking) the need for assistance with your mental health issues. I had one older brother who took his own life and a sister who was murdered. When those issues arise, I get to work … on myself. It seems that I missed or messed up opportunities to have a vibrant partner, so I try to work things out on my own and with good friends!
In closing, I want to take this opportunity to wish my Mother, Marietta Dolores Cook (Watkins) a Happy Heavenly Birthday! I know that’s where you’re at!
Peace,
John I. Cook, Director