Summer - June 2024

June (Summer)

Community, togetherness, in nature, bloom, celebration, Collaboration, movement, play and ease.

 “We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun” Terry Jacks – make the most of the present moment, that is where life exists.

Our time feels rushed, work and home life can be extremely busy at this time of year. June holds the summer solstice, which represents balance. You can be driven and have ambition, but it must come alongside ease and a sense of fulfilment.  In the summer we can enjoy lingering more, lingering in conversations at sports field side-lines or meeting people along a walkway. We can linger and delight in the bloom of the garden. The summer helps us come fully out in the open.

“It is a grounded time of surplus that doesn’t ask us to rush” Jacqueline Suskin

On a recent Garda Mental Health First Aid course we discussed how we connect with colleagues and friends. Amidst our colleagues, people are suffering, suffering alone in their minds. We often ask how someone is, without allowing the time to make a genuine response. You may notice someone who has changed in their personality and demeanour. Let’s use this seasonal time of openness to ask “Hey, how are you keeping these days” and pause to allow an honest answer. If someone says “I’m Fine” “living the dream” or “grand” but you feel they are suffering, ask again and show that you are concerned “I know you have a lot on, and I’ve just noticed you seem less yourself these days”

We wear masks all the time, wearing a mask can be a protection when we need it but 

there comes a time when we need to drop the mask. When we show this vulnerability in both the asking of the question and in the replying, we are reducing stigma. We are encouraging health and wellbeing in our environment at home and at work. When we suffer we usually retract and isolate from connection and company. And then we ruminate, blaming ourselves and others for our mental state.

If you are suffering, remember you are not a burden, you are carrying a burden. Allow people to hear your burden, it often gives others a sense of worthiness to be of service, to offer genuine support.

We must never assume that our colleagues or friends and family will reach out and ask for help, especially when they need it most. So reach towards that person, offer a lifeline, a thread of light, to help themselves find their way out of the dark. Everyone holds specific dark thoughts/illusions, that grow from past seeds. Bring your darks thoughts into the day light with conversation.

“When dark is exposed to the light, it becomes light” – St Paul

Show people that you can see them, and that you can see their inner pain. This may prevent suicide and ill-health in our workplace and our communities. It will foster a psychologically safe place to work in.

June represent growth and balance. There is abundant growth all around us. And we are made of the same elements present in nature. We come from the same earth and growth, you’ll feel it if you slow down enough. When you go out for an hour on the land, your biology recognises its bond with nature, and it promotes a healthy physiological and emotional response.  And remember to reach out, it can save a life.