Reflections

This article was originally a social media post for Teaching Everyone About Mental Health (TEAM), a nonprofit founded by Woodside native, Mackenzie Drazan.

Once a week I review stories regarding other people’s deeply personal struggles with mental health. The people that submit these stories come from all different backgrounds and each story holds a unique insight into what it means to struggle with mental health.

The experience of editing for TEAM has changed me, not sporadically but rather subtly, as I began to put myself in the shoes of the various individuals that submitted their stories. The resounding truth I have found in reading these stories is that there is one entity that unites us all: the ineffable sensations of awareness, emotions, and intuition—qualities that I deem as human consciousness. It is this consciousness that is unique to us and our interactions. It is this consciousness that gives us love, an emotion so powerful and fulfilling that it is considered a drug in its own right.

Humans are curious creatures. We are deeply complex yet we all simply want to be loved and to love others. I could not do the human consciousness justice if I had ten thousand pages to write. I can never know the human mind well enough to articulate on it in full confidence. Many religions claim that a person who possesses this level of understanding is either enlightened or a great saint. Although most of us will not attain enlightenment, we will not stop striving. It is through striving and better understanding ourselves and the world around us that we learn of love. Through the battle of understanding, we build the most important relationship in our lives, the one with our own self. Our relationship to ourselves dictates how we see the world. How you come to comprehend your own lens dictates the images that your lens reflects to you, externally and internally.

But how to know one’s self…. I dare say this is impossible. The self, the human being, is a dynamic entity, ever evolving, ever complex. We are what we believe, we are what others see, and we are something so much more than this. We are the same three-year-old that our mother knew, the stubborn teenager that our childhood friends remember, and the adult that is becoming right before everyone’s eyes.

In this compilation of characters that constitute the self, we must accept that we are neither the static labels that society gives us nor the label that we give ourselves. We possess the wonderful abilities of consistent and tremendous self-growth and self-destruction. The path in which our life takes is largely influenced by our own convictions about ourselves.

Therefore, we must learn to love ourselves, for in accepting this dynamic self and allowing love to flow into our lives, we best shield ourselves from destruction. Love is the flickering light in a dark room of ignorance; the closer we turn towards the light, the larger the flame becomes and the broader its scope. The journey of love grants us security to grow into our greater selves. Through love we learn to accept what we cannot know and acknowledge what we cannot change. Love compliments knowledge, allowing us to become all that we are meant to be. We are sent to schools to accumulate knowledge, but where do we accumulate love?

I find it necessary to pair love with knowledge; yet editing for the TEAM, it is apparent how void the education system is of love. TEAM has shown me that many young adults confront their mental health struggles during the peak of their education--in the college classrooms. This is also a time in their lives when they are the most disconnected from the love of their family. Right now, in the summer months, millions of college students are spending much needed time at home, absorbing this love from friends and family. There is no better time than right now to reflect on the impacts that love has on the human psyche. It is this love that we need to bring into the world. This love that must expand its reach beyond the nuclear family and friends. This is this love that heals ours wounds and the wounds of the world. Millions of college students need this love while they grow into adulthood. How can you help bring a more loving environment to a young adult in your life? How can we cultivate a more loving and accepting environment that allows individuals to flourish during an unstable stage in life? And what impact has love had on your life? The world needs love… how do you plan to share yours?