Complete And Utter Certainty

I’ve never been more certain of anything else in my life.

The answer, which I’m sure you’re already worked out, is an unequivocal yes!

Can you imagine someone sharing their personal mental health journey and saying they’ve completely overcome their struggles and are now entirely free from them? No? Nor me, because it wouldn’t happen, the mind simply isn’t that kind to us!

In reality, no ‘illnesses’ are perfectly handled like this, and after reading the first paragraph or two, you would either think the author is telling lies or it’s been written by some kind of AI! Nevertheless, you aren’t going to believe another word that’s typed.

When people question if their story submissions need to be perfect, or the right length, there is simply no right or wrong answer – it doesn’t mean it won’t be perfect, there are just no set parameters for this type of blog.

This is your story, about your life, with your struggles – Whether it takes 500, 5,000 or 50,000 words, so be it – what makes it perfect is you, because you’re the element of this story which is unique. If we remove you from the equation, there is no story.

Rose-Tinted Glasses

C’mon, remove those dusty old specs from the opticians and place your new jazzy rose-tinted glasses onto your face – This is to do with changing your perception about sharing a story.

Your mental health struggles can take a heavy toll on your life, and the emotional burden they carry can sometimes feel overwhelming. But with time and reflection, it can be possible to view your journey through a different lens – a lens which belongs to your rose-tinted glasses – not by ignoring the pain, but recognising your struggles as signs of strength, resilience, and hope that have co-existed alongside it.

Moments of light, glimmers of hope, hard-fought resilience, and the courage to keep moving forward can all become part of your story. By reflecting on these moments, you may begin to see your journey differently, realising that even in the darkest times, your glass may have been a little fuller than you first thought.

The Featured Image

The photo I’ve added to accompany this post is one of my favourites – It’s not perfect, because as we’ve discussed in earlier posts, nothing is – but it tells a story.

Your mental health story is exactly the same as this photo but in written form – Yes, the wording could be improved (the exposure), the grammar could be better (the angle), and the structure could be altered (the editing) – But that’s not the aim of DONTHIDE.

The aim is to capture the true stories or ‘real voices’ from people who’ve experienced struggles, battles and difficult situations with mental health.

However, at the risk of contradicting myself, I do want them to be ‘perfect’ – The only way this will happen is they are written with complete honesty, integrity, sincerity and 100% emotion.

We’ve must learn to confront mental health head on, and crash into it, before we can even contemplate learning, growing and recovering.