"What if we want connection but find it difficult...?"

A question and an answer on a Thursday night / Friday morning.

From time to time I like to write answers to questions here. The questions come from paid subscribers, whose support helps me pay my rent and buy food. I’m super grateful for these folks. If you would like to party (exchange kind words) with us in the comments and the chat, please consider joining the club.

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Sonya asked, “I know that connection is huge for our mental health. What would be your advice for those of us that want to connect but find it difficult when we’re beginning to go into a downward spiral?”

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Hi Sonya.

Great question. A couple things come to mind in response.

The first is hurricanes. I live in Florida—I think you do as well, so you can probably relate! Dealing with hurricanes is part of life here. Thankfully, hurricanes don’t appear out of nowhere. We usually have a few days notice and so preparation becomes key. What we do before the hurricane, this dictates how we’ll do when the hurricane arrives. Once the storm hits, it’s too late to prepare, right? At that point we can’t board up windows, we can’t drive, we can’t evacuate. We need to make a plan for the storm before the storm arrives.

In the same way, when it comes to our mental health, preparing for a downward spiral is a lot easier when we aren’t actively dealing with a downward spiral. What if, in the same way that we Floridians have a hurricane prep checklist, you come up with a list of things that help when you’re facing a mental health challenge or even a crisis?