So,
What would I tell someone who is just beginning to take care of their mental health?
And my answer to them would be twofold.
Number one,
Be patient with yourself.
This is going to be a process.
It takes time and deliberate effort to look back into the past,
To reflect,
To compassionately understand,
What made you who you are,
To understand the societal programming and the familial conditioning,
To craft a new narrative for yourself,
To let that new narrative integrate itself into your being,
And move forward with resilience.
It takes time and deliberate effort to do all of this.
So be patient,
Have grace,
Allow yourself a sense of compassion.
The other thing that I would say,
Going off of our first point,
Is that mental health is a skill that is cultivated again over time,
And it happens by tending to the inner landscape of the mind every day.
It is a skill.
In our everyday lives,
We tend to focus on the external world and neglect the internal world,
But each are equally valuable.
We need to tend to the material things in our lives,
Our finances,
Our families,
Our loved ones,
Our relationships,
Our health,
Physical,
And then we also need time for inward tending,
Reflection,
Silence,
Meditation.
This is equally as important to tending to things in the outer world.
With that,
I invite you to join me on this visualization as metaphor.
So sit back,
Close your eyes if you wish,
And allow yourself to truly visualize this scenario in your mind's eye.
You decide that you want to start tending to the garden in your backyard that you've been letting go for years.
It's overgrown with weeds,
You can hardly differentiate it from the grass around it,
And this initially seems like a daunting task.
Where do I begin?
You ask yourself.
You survey the garden bed and carefully begin defining the boundaries,
Differentiating your garden from the rest of the yard.
This leads to slowly and gently pulling out the weeds.
You notice that the weeds are You notice that some of the weeds have deeper roots than others,
Necessitating more attention,
And you come to the realization that this process will indeed take time.
You also notice that there are still many flowers and vegetable plants growing from the previous seasons.
You begin to till the land and the decomposing foliage of the weeds that you have pulled now acts as nutrient to the fertile soil.
At last you take a step back excited for the newfound space for growth to occur,
And with anticipation you select the new seeds for your garden,
Plotting its different sections.
You gently plant the seeds in the wonderfully rich dark soil,
Allowing enough space between each of them so that they can grow effectively.
And then with patience and consistency you allow nature to take its course.
You check the moisture of the soil daily,
Watering and adding more nutrients when needed.
You carefully inspect the conditions of the plants,
Examining for signs of wilting or pests,
And over the weeks you begin to have a thriving garden ecosystem.
Every now and then a weed returns and you understand where it comes from.
You gently pull it from the soil,
Allowing your main plants to continue to thrive.
Now,
What does this mean for the gardens of our mind?
First and foremost,
We start to see the signs that we need to tend to our mental health.
We survey our mind garden.
We see signs of overgrowth of weeds in the forms of lethargy,
Lack of focus,
Anxiety.
There's even grass from the outside of the garden growing in,
The influence of other people that we haven't had time to reflect on or let go of.
We begin to care for our mind garden by creating boundaries and routines boundaries and routines that allow for spaciousness,
Rest,
And reflection.
It's important to define our boundaries so we know where I end and you begin.
And as we set our boundaries,
We also gently address the weeds,
The patterns of negative thoughts,
Unhealthy habits,
And potentially unsettled trauma.
Recognizing that some issues will take more time and effort to resolve than others.
And as we get to the roots of these issues,
We begin to understand that those past challenges and difficulties which we underwent can actually enrich our minds,
Providing valuable nutrients in the forms of lessons and resilience.
Then,
In that nutrient-dense soil,
We spaciously plant and tend to the seeds of qualities and values of our choosing.
The seeds of compassion,
Gentleness,
Joy,
Tranquility,
Equanimity,
Hobbies,
And pursuits.
And we nurture these seeds and plant them with careful attention.
And we tend to them with time,
Consistency,
Deliberate effort,
And ongoing exploration.
However,
With this conscious cultivation,
Eventually blooms a beautiful garden.
And with this beautiful bloom,
We further distinguish ourselves from the surrounding landscape and grass.
Our peers,
Family,
Society,
And friends,
And friends,
And peers,
Family,
Society at large.
And we disperse our unique seeds of knowledge and influence,
Continuing to add to a thriving environment.
May you continue to cultivate a flourishing mental landscape that spills over to everyone around you,
Bearing wonderful fruits for you and for generations to come.
And may you be well.
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Thank you for being here.
