Another year has come and gone, and we are again upon my favourite season, Christmas! I love the beauty and the generosity of spirit characteristic of this time of the year, the countdown to Christmas day, the fabulous food and decorations, and the opportunity to gather with friends and loved ones that we may not see as often during the year. A few weeks ago, I was invited to visit Santa where I had the opportunity to take these beautiful photos. I love the magic and wonder children have when they see jolly old Santa Claus, sharing with him what they would like and the trusting they have that he will bring them what they most desire.

    I hope 2022 has been good to you. For me, it was a year of the unexpected, the type of amazing whirlwind changes that you never see coming but are so grateful for. If 2022 was not so good for you, there is always hope that 2023 will be better. Some years take your breath away and some years you would just as soon forget. We keep learning and trying as best we can to grow and evolve, that is the reason for this human experience. We need the lows to appreciate the highs, the sadness to fully appreciate the happiness, and go through the dark to finally see the light. Some years have tougher lessons than others. Practicing gratitude for it all will go a long way towards transformation.

Regardless of how 2022 has been, remember to always prioritize your well-being and mental health.

Some forms of self-care to practice:

Taking an aromatic bath
Taking time to savour your favourite food and drink
Meet with an old friend for tea and christmas goodies
Breath in the fresh air of winter on a trail
Journal all the people and things that amazed you about this year, and your hopes for what 2023 will bring
Watch a feel good movie at home
Self-massage with scented oils
Listening to a favourite Christmas playlist
Spend more time with your pet
Sleep well, perhaps with the help of a weighted blanket which is known to have a few health benefits
Yoga and meditation
Deep breathing
Affirmations and visualizations
Hot chocolate, a great book, lounge chair and cozy socks or listening to audible and doing yin yoga/ light exercise (my personal favourites:)

Practice effective boundaries at holiday gatherings: share only what you feel comfortable with, and don't feel pressure to answer questions you would rather not. Carefully choose your company and only attend gatherings where when you imagine going, you actually feel good inside. 

Manage your expectations: No one person can fulfill all your needs, even your partner. Take stock of what different people can be relied upon for bringing to the table and let go of the expectation that someone be supportive and available in all the ways you need. For example, a friend can be a great cook or fun to spend time with but not so good at providing comfort or emotional support. Your brother or sister could be really good at remembering special dates and occasions but not be so available when you need help with practical tasks. Your mom may be a great listener and regularly able to give you her full presence but not able to help with your children as often as you need. Your dad may be able to provide you good financial advice and lend/give you money whenever you need but its not as easy for him to appreciate a certain lifestyle choice you have made. Instead of focusing on where people disappoint you, choose to rely on them for things they have been good at in the past and focus on the good they bring to your life. 

​Most importantly: Remember to practice self-compassion. Silence your inner critic, don't give it time and energy. You are enough and will always be enough. Take the time to recharge your batteries so you can be fully present in all that you do. Self-compassion leads to more empathy for others and tends to have a global impact on all your relationships.

Please enjoy 'What Love is All About' by Johnny Reid, one of my favourite songs and a wonderful song to add to your holiday playlist.


      

Author: Farah H, MSW, RSW

  “Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept (Anna Taylor)”. Self-care can be defined in many ways, but in simple textbook definition, it is the act of attending to one’s physical or mental health. There is so much more to this term and definition. In my professional opinion, one’s self care is knowing your boundaries, being reflexive and taking accountability of what is needed to heal. In the context of mental health, self-care becomes a theme that is explored to gather a better sense of what one is doing on their part to aid in their healing.  

     There are simple things we can do in our day-to-day regimen to practice self-care. Some of the more common tasks include, eating a healthy meal, taking a walk, exercising, etc. The more challenging practice of self-care is setting boundaries and being transparent with yourself. Let’s tackle setting boundaries first. A person’s identity is made up of numerous roles, such as, a sister, a daughter, an employee, a student, a peer, a friend, a partner and so on. In these roles, we all operate in a different way and are sometimes forced to not be our true selves. In this case, self-care would look like, being an employee, only within work hours or extending yourself to support your friends and family if you are ABLE and reflecting on when you need time to simply be yourself. This is the more challenging component of self-care, because of the pressure and external factors to commit to taking care of oneself.  
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     In my practice, I empathize with my clients, because at the end of the day, we are all humans who are navigating this world. Our social locations will always be different, but our one commonality, is that we each have our own individual battles and we need boundaries. Having boundaries, is the self-care practice that can allow you to balance the various roles you play in your life and prioritize your well-being. As a Psychotherapist, I can empathize and validate the way you feel, as this is your individual perception and my role, is to understand this. With validation, comes reflection on whether your perception is how others may perceive something, or if your perception is biased for a reason, you may not have acknowledged just yet. This is where my support might be needed. To practice self-care, you must understand your individual circumstance through a non-biased lens. Together, we can identify the areas of your life that would benefit from self-care and develop goals to ensure continuous self-care.  At the end of the day, your progress is determined by your ability to be reflective, accountable and to commit. I am simply here to support you through this journey.  


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         I would say most people entering therapy hope to change things about themselves or the way they see situations in order to feel happier and more productive. But what really causes those inner changes through the therapeutic process? The most important in my opinion is the client's ability to be honest with themselves. The purpose of therapy is not for the therapist to back up all your perceptions of yourself and your relationships, rather it is to identify unconscious patterns that are self-sabotaging and that cause you to find yourself with the same type of problematic relationships and situations repetitively.

    You are the common denominator of all your relationships. The human mind can justify all sorts of things and compose theories to fit the narrative they want to believe. Therapy is a challenge to you to examine and investigate your own thoughts and feelings, to take accountability for situations in your life and to see what role you are playing in sustaining them. It is not the world's responsibility to avoid triggering you, it is your responsibility to empower yourself and work on your triggers so the power to affect your mood does not stay in someone else's hands. You can't change the way other people feel about you or make someone feel or act a certain way towards you. People will form their own judgements as the relationship progresses.

     When you look into the world and think that people always feel a certain way about you, this is very likely something within yourself that you project outwards. A common one is jealousy; sometimes this is used as a defense mechanism by people who are not likeable (believing everyone is jealous of them) so that they do not have to do the inner work to change what it is about themselves that causes people not to want to be friends with them. They may be aggressive, selfish, domineering, or critical, yet think others are are mistreating them when they try to defend themselves. They may enjoy giving other people negative feedback but be unable to receive the same in return. They may have high expectations of other people but not realize that to have these fulfilled they also have to fulfill the other person's expectations of them. As a result they find themselves lonely and isolated, never able to form long-lasting and healthy relationships and justify this by blaming others for being jealous. You can keep blaming other people but at the end of the day there is no one with whom to share an intimate and trusting bond with.

    As a therapist, I can validate the way you feel about something or someone, even if I don't agree with it, because that is the way you feel. However, the objective reality based on facts may be different than what an individual feels and this may be a source of their interpersonal problems. I ensure to point this out these discrepancies as well. Sometimes people will project the same feelings they have with people in their life onto their therapist and these are great learning opportunities to point out self-sabotaging patterns, if the client is open to hearing them. It is not the therapist's responsibility to change you, it is your responsibility to be honest with yourself in order to drive the change you seek. 

        This is the canvas I created last night in a guided painting class. I love how abstract art reveals not only what is on the painter's mind; their emotions and experiences but also what is on the viewer's mind. We had fun interpreting each other's paintings and what certain design choices signified about people's personality and viewpoints. I believe painting can be a wonderful form of self-care. Some psychotherapists use art as a way for their clients who have trouble expressing their emotion verbally, to tell a story on canvas.

      I intended the sun to signify that it rises and sets for everyone, shines upon all of humanity and is a symbol of unconditional love. It provides warmth and comfort regardless of age, background, culture or class. It reminds me of the poem by Hafiz:

"Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, 'You owe me.' Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky.”

      The circles are to show that we are all connected, what happens to one person affects the collective consciousness, and in turn affects us all. I believe that holding good thoughts towards someone you have never met, sending them gratitude for something they gave to you will positively affect them.

      Separation based on borders, languages and demographics are an illusion that perpetuate inequity, power abuses and indifference that leads to one life being valued more than another. The Venn diagram shows that we have our differences but we share things in common, such as the desire to be loved and to love, to be accepted for who we really are, and to be happy. When we focus on what unites us, we view each other as equals. We can work together towards mutually beneficial goals that make all of us winners instead of some gaining at the expense of others.

     We are all threads in the web of life; forever interconnected and interdependent.  All the intentions and actions you send to the world have a reverberating effect that you may not see or understand at the time but will in some way return to you. 

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        Words have so much power. When people feel that you can truly see and hear them, that is where transformation begins. I genuinely believe changing your personal narrative can change your life. Your words may give that gentle encouragement someone needs to keep persevering for a brighter future. Sometimes all you have is hope that things will be better tomorrow.  Societal conditioning suggests that people in disadvantaged positions made a series of bad choices in life which lead them into the circumstances they are in now. However, systemic inequities based on demographics and disabilities are many times beyond the understanding of people who make important decisions in those areas. This usually leads to a lack of empathy, validation and adequate material support within the system that is supposed to be designed to help people who need it. It can lead to feelings of helplessness that keep people trapped in a self-defeating cycle that influences generations.

    I wonder how many choices I would have had if I grew up like someone less privileged; raised in their dysfunctional families, exposed to their adverse life experiences, their toxic or abusive relationships and their lack of money or opportunities? You learn what is normal by observing those around you growing up; the values, thoughts, belief systems and expectations of life are unconsciously adopted regardless of how inefficient or detrimental they are. It may take a long time to replace this with healthier patterns.

     If I catch myself in a moment of judgement, I remember that what appears to be choices are sometimes not really choices. People generally do the best they can with what life gives to them. This passage is a thoughtful reminder to nurture the hopes and dreams of those who are going through times of difficulty. It doesn't matter what happened in the past because it is never too late to change. I will always be grateful to those who saw my potential in my times of testing. They believed in me and who I could become even when very little progress was being made externally. They jolted me out of believing the harsh words of my critics, middle aged people who should have known better but nonetheless were unrelenting in attempting to push me down. The kind words of my supporters still stay with me to this day. With so much harshness in the world, people who feel broken at times in their life need to know that these difficulties  only make their stories more inspiring in the end. 

           I can't believe it has been 22 years since the release of this video! I was in elementary school when it came out and it is as beautiful and inspiring now as it was then. It is so true that you always regret what you didn't do so much more than chances you took that did not work out as intended. At least you can learn from your mistakes. Just like you can't get a job if you don't apply, the universe can't give you something that you don't say out loud and make efforts to achieve. If one door closes, you can be sure that an even bigger, brighter door is waiting for you. You just need to have faith in the time that both doors are closed, that great things are in store for you. Trust in the natural timing of the universe, every step is necessary to take you where you need to go. 

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          The topic of the what the future will bring with COVID has been on everyone's minds, particularly when will the return to 'normal' come? As Roy points out, 'normal' is not a desirable state to return to, as this forced quarantine gives a chance for a depth of reflection not usually possible with the pace of everyday life pre-pandemic. It becomes apparent that we have less control over our fate than we would like to believe. Nothing is for certain and everything is always changing. We have control over how we choose to approach life; in keeping a hopeful attitude, making ethical decisions and treating people with respect and dignity. 

      How can you remain peaceful amongst the ups and downs? You must learn to find inner stillness despite the ever changing landscape of life. Are you only happy when you are experiencing a good phase of life? Or can you remain at peace when you are in the midst of several challenges? What happens if you lose the identities you define yourself by through a career loss, change of relationship or health status or loss of an important title or business? There can be sadness if you judge yourself based on what your external life looks like rather than who you are as a person.

     We observe that people treat others differently as a result of their status at a given point of time. Nevertheless, it is a harsh reality to accept when you personally experience a status reversal and are treated differently for setbacks that you had little control over, that may have been unfair. At the same time, people are conditioned by media and society to treat people differentially according to factors that define material success. Much of this happens at an unconscious level, similar to discrimination based on sex, race, class, sexual orientation, age and disability. Inequities have become much sharper, with the gap growing rapidly between the haves and the have nots. Many people who never thought they could be have nots, suddenly find themselves in the vulnerable position of having to struggle for security in ways they could not have imagined possible. These experiences can build empathy or harden the heart. I would hope that for most people, that it creates an experiential understanding of the unpredictability of life, in that roles can always change. Therefore, to build an identity around something that can be taken away, is a recipe for anxiety and disillusionment. 

       I believe the pandemic presents an opportunity to think about how we define success and how we relate to other people. First, are you judging your success and happiness on the degree to which you have mastered yourself as opposed to what your life looks like on the outside? Second, think about how we can bridge the barriers between us; to see how we can judge people not by external identities but by personality traits and the ways in which they approach the world with compassion. If we looked at ourselves and others in this way on a micro level, the world will change on a macro level, as we develop self-compassion and form relationships with a broader range of people. Demographics are not under our control and there needs to be a stronger effort to move beyond the ways in which our appearance and outer success influences who we spend time with. By expanding our minds and our hearts, more authentic friendships can blossom. In this way, we can imagine a new world, one that values inclusivity, diversity and equality. This is well worth fighting for.

        Happy Canada Day! I am thankful for this lovely holiday and honour all the freedoms of living in this beautiful country, we are very blessed.

​     I hope you have been having a great summer so far, I have been busier than usual lately and have not had as much time to update my blog. However, I wanted to share with you some beautiful music that has helped me to unwind and leaves me with feelings of peace and joy. Sam Garrett is someone I recently discovered and really resonate with his energy and lyrics, having watched several of his videos on YouTube. My favourites from this video are Hummingbird and Higher Than the Mountains, the latter I have been playing at least once everyday. Hope you enjoy!

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       It's important to remember that sharing our struggles and authentic self with someone takes a lot of inner strength and courage, and is something that should be commended rather than thought of as a weakness. Mental health issues can not be seen, and consequently are given much less tolerance, acceptance and empathy when compared to physical health issues. We wouldn't expect someone in a wheelchair to walk but we may get angry or resentful when someone suffering from depression has to take an extended leave of absence.

     People who suffer from depression, anxiety, trauma, PTSD, bipolar disorder and several other mental health conditions usually don't look or act differently than anyone else. It's time to change the way we view mental illness as secondary in importance to physical illness. OHIP will allow you to see a medical doctor when you are feeling physically ill, but not a psychotherapist when you are suffering mentally. Not all private insurance companies cover psychotherapists.
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    We become what we think about all day long. Our thoughts shape our destiny, if the mind is not healthy, you will not be healthy.  The more we advocate for mental health, the more likely that those who genuinely need help will get help at critical points in their lives.