The theme this year for Children’s Mental Health Week is ‘Let’s Connect’.
When I think of connecting with something or someone, I first think of connecting with my friends. What it means to connect for me, is to communicate with other people and spend time with them, chatting to them or just enjoying their company. Sometimes, with a friend, a friend who is your true friend and knows you well, you don’t even have to talk to them; silence can become comfortable, you can actually just be happy being in someone’s company without even speaking much to them! (A big shock, I know!)
As I have grown older, I have learnt that connecting with certain people in my life makes me feel a whole lot better. Unfortunately, there are times when I meet people or I am in the company of people who don’t make me feel so good or don’t help me feel happier-so I have decided to try to surround myself with the ones who do! Well, as often as I possibly can, it’s not always easy to do this!
We learn as we get older, who or what makes us happy. If you were to close your eyes and think of what or who helps you feel connected, I wonder what would pop into your mind. If you have found something that brings you happiness and connection-hold onto it, it’s one of life’s greatest gifts!
We don’t always have to find connection through friendships; it can be through being a member of a team, a club, or even through one of our favourite games or belongings.
In the story, Felicity Flipflops, Felicity has a very strong connection to her flipflops, although we don’t learn yet exactly why that is. Her attachment to them is so strong that she is willing to put up with some of her peers laughing and joking about them. Again, I wonder if you can relate to this or have something in your life that you couldn’t do without.
Mental Health is a massive thing and should be viewed as the same as physical health! It is okay to have good days and bad days; days when we don’t feel okay or days when we have some worries. The important thing is that we learn to talk about it-share how we are feeling and not hold all our thoughts inside. The saying, ‘a problem solved is a problem halved’ is so, so true. We have connections or people who will be there for us and help us through tricky times, but if we hide it and don’t share it, they won’t know and won’t be able to help us.
My message as a teacher and a writer, is that no one’s mental health can be good all the time. It is perfectly normal for it to fluctuate (go up and down) and the main thing I would try to encourage you as a young-ish child to do, is to use your voice. The more we practise at home and at school, the easier this will become and the more normal it will become in society. Be brave-talk and share your thoughts and feelings and be a great role model for younger children. We know this isn’t always easy but if we keep trying it, it will become much easier.
Hopefully, by the time you have reached the end of this blog, you have thought about important connections in your life and will use them to help you on the ‘not so good days.’ These days do come around for us all and that’s okay-we are all human!! 🙂
