May is Mental Health Awareness Month….and also my birth month. I do not think this is a coincidence, but for these reasons, May is my favorite month.

I am currently reading "First, We Make The Beast Beautiful” by Sarah Wilson. If you haven’t read it, you should. Even if you don’t have some existential crisis going on in your life, it’s a great book for everyone (even if you don’t like to read). I have learned so much from just the first few pages. She refers to anxiety, or whatever else you may be going through, as the beast. The cover is an octopus because they used to be thought of as beasts, but with further research, we know that they are far from beasts. Ultimately, they are very intelligent and their nature is to try to connect with humans.

Sarah talks about meeting the Dalai Lama and getting to ask him ONE question. She is, of course, nervous and blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.


How do I get my mind to shut up?

The Dalai Lama laughs and says, “There is no use! Silly! Impossible to achieve! If you can do it, great. If not, big waste of time.”

In the end he tells her that he can sometimes quiet his own mind if he is on a mountain, in a cave, alone. Otherwise he has much better things to do. She was confused by this answer for a while, but then realized, it’s the best answer he could have given her.

I haven’t read very much so far. But I have a lot of ideas to write out, so here we go…

  1. You don’t need to completely conquer the “beast”.
  2. That sounds different than what I normally write. But hear me out. Why conquer the beast if you can make friends with it? Anxiety, depression, OCD, all of that stuff is treated like some foreign disease. Did you know that 1 in 5 Americans have some kind of mental health issue? That’s no foreign disease if you ask me. It’s more common than you think. I’m saying you don’t need to “conquer” whatever it is you have going on. The truth is, most of us will be living with this shit for our entire lives. Sure it can get better, and if you’re lucky, it’ll go away! But chances are, it’s a part of who you are. So might as well make it beautiful and get along with it.
  3. You have a life to live. Don’t waste it trying to change your mental makeup. I have been trying to do this for YEARS. Trying not to be anxious, trying to not do my OCD rituals and tendencies, trying not to be depressed or sad for no reason, trying to be normal. I’ve said this before, but what even is “normal”? Maybe I’m normal and all of you aren’t. ;) I’m kidding, but seriously! Who wants to be boring, and like everyone else. That’s lame.
  4. Like I said, 1 in 5 Americans have some kind of mental illness. You are not crazy, insane, or weird. This is a part of so many people. Yes, your path, your journey, your mind, your body, your soul, it’s all unique. But we all have so much in common, that it’d be a shame not to talk about it and celebrate it.
  5. If you are able to have “quiet brain” you are very lucky. My mind runs a mile a minute and never stops for anything. If you are like me, I sympathize with you. But I am starting to learn that it’s not a bad thing, I just think a lot! (Sometimes too much, but who doesn’t!)

We are all special, incredible, and unique. Most of us have beasts that no one knows about. Maybe this month we can work on making them beautiful.

Happy Mental Health Awareness Month!