A Moment of Mental Health

JoAnn Mullinix, M.A., LMFTA

I stand at the city bus stop waiting for that cold metal box to transport me to the office. I tick off tasks to complete when I arrive. Adjusting my mask, I review the line items marked through in my mental mead notebook. A woman smiles from six feet away. I thank God for this moment of mental health.

The sole of my shoe is floppy. My callused skin recalls the cold from only weeks ago. My coat is two sizes too large but it feels like the hugs I prayed for as a child. The words from that kind soul echo, “we have a bed for you”. A part time job, food, community, hope. I thank God for this moment of mental health. 

Yelling breaks through the thin glass window pane. I hold his hand and feel the quilt shift as the children squeeze closer. I remember the box of Looped Fruit cereal sitting on the mini fridge and the box of cans that arrived outside room 316, and I smile. Clothed, fed, warm, safe. I thank God for this moment of mental health. 

I breathe deeply. The freshly scrubbed floors reflect a prism of rainbows dancing on the screen as she tells me about her first day back. I wish she was here to spill some juice on those clean cold floors or scuff them up with her comings and goings. Her voice light and sweet and full of joy fills my house. I thank God for this moment of mental health. 

The earth freshly turned, receives that cold metal box. Hot tears flow. The memory of a hug floats by as we lift our voices to Heaven.  I thank God for this moment of mental health.  

As we move through this month of focus on women’s mental health, I invite each of us to consider the moments of mental well being that have conspired to create our joy.  Popular theory and social media leads us to believe that we can acquire this happiness through goods. In fact, the World Health Organization has highlighted three resiliency factors that contribute to mental health and decrease incidence of depression. These three include:

• having sufficient autonomy to exercise some control in response to severe events.

• access to some material resources that allow the possibility of making choices in the face of severe events.

• psychological support from family, friends, or health providers

As we together navigate beyond the year anniversary of this pandemic, let us recollect moments of mental health we have experienced. Moments that have woven together to create fortitude and hope.