The Importance of Making an Effort
Hello!
First of all, Happy Easter! I hope you managed to have one and if you did, I'm very jealous. My easter will be postponed until next weekend when the Edinburgh term finishes though I must admit, I was really not a fan of my first easter away from my family, I don't know, it's always been a family thing for me so @Edinburgh University, not cool.
Moaning aside, I wanted to talk about making an effort with your appearance and how I think that it's so important for looking after your mental health. I mean, it's an age old saying "Look good, feel good" right?
Now, I'm not saying that you look dreadful if you don't have a full face of makeup on, not at all. In my opinion, everyone has their thing that makes them feel "done" and ready for human interaction. For example, my mum is not really into makeup and never has been but she will always blow dry her hair with a volumising product. In fact, I distinctly remember arriving on holiday and going to Argos to buy a hairdryer because the accommodation had lied about having one (shock horror!). For me, I like eyeliner and mascara. I mean, I will usually do my face as well but if I'm not bothering with that, I'll always do something with my eyes.
The reason I think it's important to do those things is that it gives you something to hold on to, a way of going through the motions. Everything might well be crashing around you, you might not be able to eat, you might be going through the hardest weeks of your life, but if you can still go through the motions and show a vague mask of normality to the world, it shows a little bit of fight. If you have that little bit of fight, you have something to build on. Today you managed to brush your hair and put on some lip balm, tomorrow you might be able to do a little bit more. If you stop putting in the effort and give in, it's much harder to rebuild. Once you lose that little piece of you, you've lost everything.
Some of you might read this and think I'm being harsh, and I am. When you have a severe mental health condition, you have to harsh with yourself. I am very disciplined with myself and will always try and put something on my face because why on earth would I let anxiety win in every respect? Don't let yourself off the hook, as long as you manage to keep doing one thing that makes you feel like you, you will be able to hang on much more easily.
Thank you very much for all your messages of support,
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Lots of Love,
Sarah xxx
