I drove down to Mifsa down south yesterday to give a talk about some suggestions to cope with the Christmas season. It went really well I thought, there was a small group of about a dozen people. I shared about how I find Christmas a bit of a vulnerable time for me, and some reasons why that’s the case. I find a lot of the information given to folks with mental illness is about being sensible, and while it’s important to know things like – alcohol may interact badly with your medication, not having enough sleep may set off a manic episode etc, I find I get heartily sick of lectures about looking after myself better that all seem to boil down to never having fun again or taking any risks.

So, I tried to give out important information like make sure you’ve got enough meds/scripts to get you through when all the services close, but in way that I hope was a bit more inspiring. The whole point of taking care of yourself is to be able to function to your best and enjoy life! It’s not about being submissive or obedient or a ‘good patient’. It’s about not having a major crash, not paying too high a price for trying to enjoy yourself, not having your doctor get back from holidays to give you a talking to about how badly you spun out.

I really enjoyed it! I like to personalise and humanise my talks as much as possible, and it’s just awesome to feel people unwind a bit when you share your own frailties and struggles with them. It was really exciting to hear people feeling like they had permission to take control of the Christmas season and turn it into what they liked instead of feeling run over by it. If they like solitude to turn down invitations and stay home with a stack of library books. If they are lonely to check the Messenger every week for free events, book in time to catch up with friends or family… I shared that last year I was very lonely on Christmas day so I went to a lunch at the Salvos and it really cheered me up. I also brought in some examples of cheap handmade gifts I’d made over the years to help inspire people that presents didn’t have to be expensive and competitive, they could be small and meaningful. That seemed to go down well.

This is the awesome thing about peer work, it turns times in your life that were painful and even humiliating, into something you can draw on to help lessen the pain and humiliation of other people going through similar things. I love it. I love it everytime I can use the word ‘we’ instead of ‘you’ when I’m talking to people who already feel marginalised, inferior, disempowered. I love being able to talk, share, and listen as one of them. I know just how powerful it is to meet people who are living well having come through something you’re struggling with, because I have those people in my life too, who’ve inspired and encouraged me by treating me as human and by letting me see the vulnerabilities they are overcoming. I am so privileged to have people come and listen to me, to share about their struggles and let me be part of them seeing new ways around obstacles and challenges. I’m so glad I’m doing this.