This is just a short blurb on what this mental health section is, why, and what to expect.
So I've been living alone for quite a while now (6 months as of writing this), and to say the least, it's been the toughest thing I've ever done in my entire life. Harder than work, and harder than school. I dug myself into one of the lowest lows in my life during this time and I feel like I've done what's necessary to get me back to ground level at the very least. This series of blogs will put into words some of the strategies and thoughts that I think worked best for me to get me to where I am today and hopefully will help someone else out there too.
Within this month-ish, I've consumed a lot of self-help content and also some external help, and what I find works for me is being able to hear perspectives and experiences from other people, no matter what it is. Little bits of knowledge, experience, or behaviours here and there that I can choose to hold onto or let float away. The key thing is that I'm exposing myself to it and that's the fun of it that I also want you to experience. It's like walking down a hiking trail... There are plenty of plants to stop and take a look at, touch the leaves, feel their groundedness, and also wonder at possibilities like if it will ever flower. You will be attracted to some plants more than others, and I think this is much like self-help content. Some things will stick, some things will make you curious and make you want to come back later, and other stuff will not appeal to you at all.
So given how helpful this experience has been for me so far, I wanted to put these feeling into words, not only because it helps me challenge and establish these thoughts in my own mind, but also because someone else might find this helpful too in the same way I was taking a hiking trail through the endless content out on the web.
In these blog posts, don't expect solid advice. I'm not trying to be a guru, I'm just trying to help myself by writing this all out. Everything you read will be purely my own experience and what I feel connects with me the most. You will not be able to connect with everything that I write here and I encourage you to stop reading it if it doesn't make sense to you and go find something else that will. Heck, maybe you'll learn something elsewhere and then come back here. I don't care, I just want you to at least come here and leave with a net positive somehow.
Now that that's over, I suggest you start with the "You are stupider than you think" post. This is the first step I had to take.