Hello! This is a mental health care package delivered just for you.

This post will have something that have been making me feel better about myself and the world in which I live and I hope that some of the things will help you out, too.

A reminder that I’m not a doctor, I could be someday, but I doubt it because I’m here now writing this.

It’s Autumn here in New Zealand. I love the fall, but often the change to cooler weather can bring on a down swing in people’s moods. I hope that this months care package will help circumvent some of those feelings.

I stumbled across a great piece from filmmaker and podcast Kevin Smith recently about his experience with trauma. I found the video to be really well thought out and showed a side of Smith that a lot of folks, myself included, hadn’t seen of him.

The main thesis is that everyone has a bit of trauma and it’s worth working through not matter how big or small you perceive it. The fact that we’re all in this wide, wonderful, and terrifying world together is a great balm for when you’re feeling like you’re the only one who has gone through something and yet not special enough to seek out help.

It found me in the right place and I hope it helps you!

My partner visited me here in Aotearoa, NZ and we had a wonderful trip. I’m not going to speak too, too much about that, but what I will say is this: if you have the opportunity to go out into nature for a day, take it.

It worked wonders for my anxiety.

It’s a truly miraculous feeling to feel the bigness and the smallness of the world by looking at a mountain, ocean, or the night sky.

Give yourself a little room and let yourself breathe in where you are.

Here are a few little affirmations to help you get by this month:

You are enough, even when it feels like you’re too much.

You deserve a decent and happy life.

We are all built out of atoms that have been around for ages, treat yourself with the same respect as the ancient seas and stars.

You might have a hard time today, but the past doesn’t dictate the future.

You’re not like anyone else, you’re already the best you there is, go prove it to them.

Here’s a poem that might help or if it doesn’t, I won’t mind.

In the evening air, I couldn’t care, what people tend to think

But when I’m home, and all alone, I’m oft brought to the brink

In my mind, I can’t confide, in anyone and I begin to diminish

Then the words stop, and I drop, deep below the surface

My mind sinks deep, a wakeful sleep, one that has its purpose

I open my eyes, then realize, my anxieties are finished

Here’s some soothing audio I made during lockdown. I hope you like it.

Finally, I want you to know that I’m out here rooting for you. I might not know you the best, heck we might not have met. But, I’m wishing you well and that you remain as bright and beautiful and bold as the day I maybe met you.

Take care of yourself now!

Tristan