How going out travelling gives me a sense of freedom (A personal post)

Hello everyone! Just a random "off the top of my head" kind of post today. 

As the above title states, I want to share something more different, and it's also on a wee bit of a personal level too. Especially when I have to do this on an almost daily basis. 

For what I do in my line of work, I am required to travel to various place across the country. Even on days where I am not traveling, or traveling to anywhere for work related things, I still find the time to go out traveling to places I haven't been to before yet, or just want to revisit somewhere mainly for nostalgia purposes. That being said, I have just come to realise that doing all of this makes me feel lucky to work in such a competitive & growing industry, where I have the privilege to travel to so many different places, which make me feel alive & free.

I'll get on to explaining that...

*The above picture is the view of Leeds, which was taken from the balcony of the room I had my IOPC Youth Panel Conference in*

Even from a very young age, I was constantly moving around different places, I have lived in a total of 6 different places, and went to a school & college that was not located in any of the 6 places I had resided in. Every other weekend, when I was with my dad, we'd always go out somewhere by train or by car.

I remember this where my love for travelling manifested from.

Fast forward to now, where I have a Saturday job that's in a another county, and I travel to different places across the country for industry related meetings or conferences.

On a more personal note, I enjoy nothing more than having the freedom to go out and have a wander, as this helps my mind to adjust into a positive mental state by clearing all of the negative thoughts that are trapped inside it. Especially going on long walks or train journeys that take up the whole day!😂

Sometimes, there have been times where I didn't think I would have the confidence to be able to travel long distances by myself, as I always carry a small fear of: "What's going to happen?" But then I have learned that the more I do these kinds of things, the more confidence I will gain when travelling long distances. Especially that it really helps me to feel more independent as a person.

*I began this post on the 24/9, but didn't finish it until the 25/9*

An introduction to MIND Side By Side

Evening all, and happy Friday! I hope you're all looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year, however you may choose to celebrate it. 

In contrast, it is important to bare in mind that some people out there may not choose to celebrate Christmas due to certain issues they could be dealing with. An example of this could be their mental health. I, for one, can totally relate to this, so I know how it feels to be overwhelmed during the run up to Christmas. Let alone on Christmas Day.

Whilst still on this subject, I have just recently signed myself up to the MIND Side By Side community scheme. Although I have only discovered this community scheme within a short amount of time, I can already provide a useful introduction about it to anyone who is also considering to join up as well.

What is Side By Side? Side By Side is an online community group, where people all over the world can connect with one another. Going into more depth, Side By Side creates a sole purpose of supporting people who are battling mental health. (Myself included)

How does using Side By Side make me feel? Overall, I would say that using Side By Side helps me to feel relieved, by being allowed to express myself freely with other people without any judgement. That being said, I feel like I can relate to other people on the community site by developing an understanding of what they may be going through in terms of their own mental health. Every story is different & interesting to say the least. Whenever I use Side By Side, my mind breathes with relief, as it casually puts itself in timeout by knowing that it is going to get a well deserved break from reality. Making an effort to connect with other users helps my mind to unload all of the piling stress that cannot seem to disappear. This is purely because talking about how you feel to someone helps my mind to get rid of its load of excessive & repetitive thoughts. And in most cases, prevents them from reoccurring.

*I began this post on the 22/12/23, but didn't finish it until the 23/12/23*

MIND, you are amazing at what you do, and never give up... Ever...

Happy Saturday all! Hope you're all enjoying it so far, as for the rest of this week. I know I haven't been paying much attention on here lately, as I have been too occupied with my coursework & my jobs. 

During this time, I was disappointed to see on MIND's social media that the UK government has let down people's mental health, again... Although I do not consider myself to be somebody who requires support from any mental health professional who may have a degree of some sort, but I do consider myself to be somebody who cares about mental health being taken into consideration. Especially when it comes to people suffering from their mental health by having no one to turn to, as well as to seek professional advice. Read about it here: https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/uk-government-shelves-the-mental-health-bill/

Because I am a part of MIND'S workforce, I feel like it's only right if I speak up on behalf of the company/charity. Not just that, but also because I truly appreciate everything they do in a bid to fight for mental health.

MIND, if you're reading this, (or if you ever read this) I just want to say that I am a massive fan of what you do in your workforce. Whether these may consist of encouraging people to get a membership, volunteer or even create partnerships with work companies, you're doing a grand job with getting more people involved in fighting for mental health. That being said, you wouldn't be recognised for who you are, as well as what you do to this day if it hadn't been for any of those above things.

Let's also talk about your campaigning, as I can clearly see that you would happily go above & beyond to achieve. This also includes people happily going out of their way just so they can help you with the campaigning. This is obviously a inspirational success in a lot of people's eyes whenever they view these campaigning events on the media. Just a shame the government do not take this seriously...

On that note Charles, how come you didn't think to mention all of this in your speech last Tuesday? (7/11/23) I mean, it's not like this is a rocket science situation that will just fix on its own, this mental health crisis has to be dealt with by actually putting the mental health bill into action. Words cannot even begin to describe as to how shocked I am that this has been not been sorted out for the past 6 years now, and the UK government think it's okay for people's mental health to go unnoticed in this country?! 

All I can really say at this point, is that something HAS to be done in order for the UK government to put the mental health bill into action, and to ensure no one's mental health gets ignored. But until then...

Keep on fighting for mental health MIND.✊🏻💙

   

 

My thoughts on the "Check in on those around you" video

Alrighty, although World Mental Health Day has come & gone, I still want to provide you all with a video that shares a silent, but powerful message. 

As the title states, I also want to share my thoughts on the video, as I want to spread the important awareness of checking in on the people around you. This is because everyone has a right to check in on people around them, as it helps to those people to feel wanted when they feel like they are alone by thinking that nobody cares about them.

Even though this video (below) is produced by Norwich City FC, it was also a collaboration with Samaritans for the purpose of raising awareness on World Mental Health Day.

  

What do I think of this video?

I think this video was very well presented, as its aim was to spread the importance of checking in on whoever is around you. In this case, the video consisted of 2 men at a Norwich City FC football game. The man on the right was clearly trying to enjoy himself. The man on the left was also happy, but not as much as the man next to him.

I actually found it heartwarming to see the 2 men looking like they're enjoying themselves at the game together, as if they were bonding in a friendly manner. 

This was where the deceiving truth lies beneath. 

The man on the right, was purposely PUTTING ON a happy face, just for the sake of the man on the left not being able to tell how he is actually feeling like INSIDE. And because the man on the left failed to notice by not checking up on him, he just presumed that man was having the time of his life, when really, he wasn't feeling that way on the inside.

If those 2 men were actors in that video, I'd say they had done a professional job at portraying their characters in it, as I'm sure it wasn't easy to play 2 people showing their presumed feelings on the outside.

The end part of the video showed the man, who was sitting on the left, walk silently over to where he was sitting during the football game. He was also looking sad while holding the man on the right's football shirt. This indicates me that the man, who was sitting on the right, must have done something to himself that made him not come back to the next game with the man on the left...

I thought the ending part of the video was just right to conclude it, as well as deliver the morale of the video itself. I'm sure everyone else can agree that the ending scene must have touched deep inside the mind, as you must be thinking to yourselves: "If only the man on the left was checking in on the man on the right, he would still be here now..."

That is the end of my view. Please do feel free to share your own thoughts on this video, and do remember to keep on checking in on the people around you. 

Take care.💚

A little something for #WorldMentalHealthDay

Evening all, I hope you've been well doing whatever you've been doing today. This is especially because it is an important day. (In my opinion anyway)

As the title states, I want to share my say on World Mental Health Day with you all on here. This is because of 2 valid reasons. Firstly, I personally deal with anxiety from time-to-time, which can sometimes interfere with my daily life. Secondly, it is important for me to show my respect for this important world day, as I currently have 2 voluntary jobs with MIND & Samaritans.

As of today, as well as everyday, there are people all over the world who battle with their mental health. (Myself included)

They may act as though they are fine on the outside, but in reality, they could be feeling insecure in the inside. It can be very deceiving.

Also as of today, too many people are choosing to end their lives due to feeling alone with their mental health, or due to being let down repeatedly by the mental health system. I cannot even say the accurate amount of times I have seen this across social media & on the news... It's so depressing.

Now more than ever, please provide a open heart & mind to anyone everywhere. By doing so, you could may well save someone from choosing to end their own life.💚