Right now, at this very moment, apart from typing this most excellent blog post, I am watching my current favourite TV show – Girls.
It is an awesome show and I say to Lena Dunham (et al) you are creative genius. Genius!
There are two things I love and can relate to in Girls. Firstly, the show portrays 4 twenty-something women with all of their positives, negatives, challenges, grease and grime. In the second season at least 3 of the characters have their own mini-breakdowns. There is Hannah who struggles with anxiety and her OCD. Marnie, who has depression and Jessa who is trying to overcome her addictions, a challenged upbringing, and a failed marriage. All trying to have a “normal” life. Real things that happen to real people. Real things that are rarely portrayed on television are portrayed in this show.
The second thing I love about this show is the idea of support networks. Friends, family and sometimes even acquaintances become the support structure for these girls. We all need support. And I love the idea that this support can come from unexpected or unusual places. A friend, at an AA meeting, your neighbour next door.
Tomorrow is National R U OK Day. Not everyone in life is OK in every moment. We all struggle with things from time to time.
I do not want this to be a blog about mental illness, but I will admit that I have had my own struggles at times. I’ve had bouts of anxiety and depression. I’ve been on medication at times. I regularly see a psychologist.
I really wish that there wasn’t such a belief in our world that all these things are a fault or a weakness, that not being OK may be construed as being unable to cope. Even just writing this now I am hoping that my employer or a future employer doesn’t read it and judges me. I truly believe that nobody should be made to feel like they have to hide who they are or what is going on with them in order to “succeed”.
What I’ve learned about being OK is that:
U R OK if you struggle sometimes. It’s OK to cry sometimes. Get it out of your system.
U R OK if you haven’t achieved what the world expects you to have achieved
U R OK if you ask for help
U R OK if you admit that sometimes “You know what? I’m not OK”
Normal does not exist
So tomorrow on R U OK Day. Ask someone you might see very day, or someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, or someone you’ve never met……Are You OK? Spark the conversation…because you never know how much that would mean to someone.
This post is dedicated to all those people that have asked me if I’m ok, or answered the phone when I called, needing a friend. It is also dedicated to those people that didn’t get asked if they were ok, when maybe they should have.
