The Feeling of Creating Walls All Around You
Imagine yourself walking down a route at night, the roads are narrow, winding and dark, the only things there are you and the moonlight above you. Its a long walk, but it doesn’t give that feeling, the feeling of loneliness, to an extent you feel comfortable, the fact that you can be alone with your thoughts. But the thing that you don’t seem to take notice of is that the moon is slowly falling under the covers of the clouds above, letting the darkness take over, slow enough for it to not be noticeable, though it is happening all the same.
It’s a scenario that can occur from time to time, though one that is self-induced. Now, you may ask how this might occur, then I would say that I don’t have a definite answer for it. The trigger can be anything, but all I know is that it takes you on a journey, alone, wanting to be with your thoughts because that’s what comforts you, the fact that you aren’t looking towards a saving grace and embracing the path you’re on. There is something comforting in that thought, but what we fail to realize on this journey, is that it isn’t meant to be completed alone. Like any quest or journey, whether it be in games or in movies, we end up finding companions on the way, make bonds, share burdens, and create memories together.
This journey is a bit different. It basks in our loneliness, not letting up on our thoughts as we keep moving ahead. It is free yet confined, an oxymoron if you will. That’s what is funny about it all, you feel like you don’t need anything and can handle things on your own, but that is what truly holds you back. I say this because I know it, I have experienced it myself, but luckily I was able to complete it and get out of that space.
When you create walls around you, you end up creating a zone for yourself where you want to protect yourself from things that can cause you pain, though this time not physical in nature. While you might laugh with friends, have fun outside and continue on with the day, your mental toll keeps going up, you yourself are in a place that doesn’t seem to be the best, but you trudge through because weirdly enough, it is comfortable and you’re okay with that.
That is the space I feel we need to find a balance within, where we need to understand that understanding our own thoughts is important but also having an outlet at some point will also be an important factor. This outlet can take the shape of anything, whether it be your favorite activity or just hanging out with family and friends, it is the little things that give your brain a cathartic jolt. It might not bring you out of your funk, but it certainly does brighter our path on our journey, even if it is a very small change.
The fact of the matter is, we all go through periods where we feel like we don’t know what to do, we keep moving along but don’t see a purpose, it is a difficult time and honestly, I don’t have the answers to how to get out of it, maybe we don’t need them right now, but for the people like me, who have been on this journey and people like my friend who are still on this journey, we need to know the fact that there is a world of possibilities for us, whether big or small, it’s there, it takes time but it does come to us.
Something I told my friend on the podcast when we were discussing this topic was that it hurts to see someone close to you go through this, especially when you know the pain, and I know he doesn’t want us prying in on what’s happening or help him solve the situation because that’s not what he is looking for. But the one thing I can, and we as people can offer our loved ones is our shoulder, just the fact that we are there to listen, talk and do activities you want to do, together! The offer is always on the table and that’s all, we don’t want to force it more than that. The day you feel like you want to pick that offer up, you know where you can find us. But that’s just one factor.
The other factor is getting professional help, while not possible for everyone, it is an avenue that should be explored whenever possible. Matters of the mind aren’t easy and need the right care and attention. That is why having the right help is important.
But the fact remains, the walls around us may form our safe space, but we need to work on ourselves in that time, and not let those barriers confine us, finding our freedom takes time but when you do find it, the liberation is one of the best feelings in the world!
On our podcast, we went in-depth about the discussion around forming a shell around ourselves and spoke about our own mental health, how we have been coping, and how difficult it has been. While I may be in a better place at the moment, Zee is having a difficult time and we get to learn about the space he is in, what his thoughts are at the moment and how he has been working on improving his state of mind if he is working to improving at all.
We would love for you all to join our discussion about the same, and let us know your thoughts about mental health and how you have been coping through the quarantine.
You can listen to our podcast here: https://bit.ly/our-shells
We would also like to make a request from you if you so allow it, we here at The Sheeples want to help our fellow Sheeples out by talking about our own experiences and mental health journies freely, in the hopes that it might resonate with someone and help people put, in a similar way, if you feel like you are comfortable with talk about your own journeys with others, then help us out by filling and distributing our crowdsourced excel sheet amongst your own peers, where people can read and write about their own experiences and help others out through the same!
We have also added information and links to professional therapists on the excel sheet so that if needed, people can go forth and contact these professionals for help!
Link to excel sheet: https://bit.ly/coping-with-anxiety-sheeples
Link to list of therapists: https://bit.ly/therapist-list
We hope to see you over on the pod and joining in on the discussion!
This is 1000Minus7 signing out! Until next time!
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