friday night, the dog spread out on the arm of the sofa and my lap becoming warmer from holding the laptop ready to type. reflecting upon my week there’s been three main components.
more sessions at derby museums, all of which have been great fun and having so many different and varied conversations. i’ll drop in some images of the goings on throughout this post.
second thing has been a rebalancing excercise over on my instagram account. again i’ll drop into this post the instagram posts made this week.
i’m skipping through the first two quickly as i want to spend time on the third.
earlier this month an artists and mential health piece by alistair gentry appeared in the a-n news feed. today i finally got to read it.
firstly i can say that with my short term memory affected by my dsylexia i initially struggle to remember what i did in fact read. this memory problem quite often affects how i feel as recalling things proves to be difficult when in conversation etc
the article appeared to be longer than it is at lunchtime – read it on my phone see.
i’ve never had a formal diagnosis for any mental condition although i have been to the doctors in the past when i was struggling.
once the counselling service i went to discharged me after two sessions because ” we don’t deal with the type of problems you have here.”
where was i ?
oh yes – the artist and mental health article. yes – i agree mental health should be talked about more. there you go alistair i’ve agreed with you. is this enough ?
is it though ?
mental health is delicate and dynamic. we all have it and we all have our own version of it. today i had time to read the article because i had some time before meeting to discuss how i’ve been struggling for months with several little things that have all added up to make andrew unhappy.
we met at the post house in derby. tell them andrew sent you for a 10% discount on the door price for the jazz evening sunday 26th august. they have a range of artisan foods and craft beers with award winning deserts.
you see it’s easier to skirt around the mental health and well being of one self than it is to be honest about what is going on where the symptoms aren’t medical. how might we get a conversation going about mental health when the symptoms are as a result of the actions and decisions of others?
alistair mentions ……. ” They could start by paying them properly, ….. ” how many of this community would have improved mental health and lives if the work they are doing was financially valued higher than currently?
part of my conversation today was around value and self worth. when one is in a reduced self worth state its far more difficult to command a reasonable competitive day rate as one is less likely to hold onto ones market value and hold out for something higher. i suspect budget holders will gladly pay less to make their budgets go further.
my conversation today was mainly about the fact that i’ve been through something and i needed to talk about it. conversations about mental health need to be with a person one feels comfortable with, feel they can be trusted and most importantly of all listen to what is being said.
alistair talks about organisations putting their money where their mouth is. are you advocating that the organisations pay the fee for a 4 week active listening course for the majority of their friendlier employees ?
active listening is amazing. the feeling of being listened to can make a huge difference to the mental and emotional strength of an artist – of anyone.
personally when i’m in a meeting and my suggestions seem to repeatedly not be heard – i start to go inside of myself. i have to find the mental strength to silently pull myself out of the slump, find part of the conversation to engage with and dive back in on the front foot and make myself heard.
it has felt great to be open about my experiences. my suggestion alistair is for organisations to make it easier for those involved in it to be open and honest about their experiences. i don’t know how to do this right now ….. maybe we can talk about it sometime ….
