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by Shelley Burgess
I’m going to be honest. I’m struggling a bit right now, and I am guessing I am not alone. With what is going on in our world right now, how can we not be impacted in some way. While I am doing my best to find silver linings in all of this, and I often do, I’m just not myself right now. It’s hard for me to put into words exactly what I’m feeling, but it manifests itself in the following ways:
There are others, but I’m sure you get the idea. I am experiencing all of these very real things, and I know the truth is that my emotional well-being is off, and while I have never been diagnosed with a mental illness, I am not completely mentally healthy right now. I can only imagine the severity of the impact on people with preexisting mental health conditions.
I, like all of you, am doing my best to cope, to do the best that I can, to find the silver linings, appreciate the little things, and give myself and others grace, but I’m not always successful right now. Ultimately, I know I will be okay. So will you. We will all get through this.
Typically on our blog, Beth and I share tips, advice, and resources to support our roles as educational leaders, but as many of us are on stay at home orders and spending 24 hour a day with our families, our roles as spouses, parents, and family members are also important to highlight right now. So, I thought I’d share an opportunity I had this week to talk about my role as a mother, and in particular as it relates to having a child who suffers from mental illness.
One of my best friends, DBC’s Director of Culture and Community, and all-around amazing woman, Marisol Rerucha (@Mreruchie) hosts a nightly Facebook Live show for the National Parents’ Union. Her show is designed to be a nightly restorative social-emotional check-in for parents, families and caregivers during this very stressful time It is a one hour show that kicks off with some self-care breathing exercises, some words of wisdom and reflection and then continues with an authentic and real conversation with her guest, which happened to be me on Wednesday. I was so honored to join her to talk a bit about my journey as both a professional woman and a mom. I hope you enjoy it.
In a time of global crisis, when so many of us are struggling with our emotional well-being, I also wanted to share with you an opportunity to support The JED Foundation (@JedFoundation) an organization committed to protecting mental health and preventing suicide in teenagers and young adults. They do wonderful work and have created several responses to help us all deal with the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As most of you know, we had to cancel DBC PIRATE Con, but we have redesigned the t-shirts to reflect that the conference is a ”Lost Experience”. All proceeds from the sales will go to support The JED Foundation and the great work they do. You can check the shirts out HERE. We have also had several conference registrants donate a portion of their registration fee to JED. So far, we have collectively raised just over $1,000. We hope you will join us to support this great cause.
In a time where we are all figuring out the best way to approach each new day, we are sending you strength, encouragement, understanding, and love from our families to yours. Take great care of yourself.
Shelley and Beth