Hey there! Thank you for taking the time to read my work, I really appreciate it. Today’s article is my first, so it’s going to be short and sweet – just enough to make you think and hopefully, you come up with experiences of your own to share here, because that’s what this is all about- you!
You may have noticed that my first page reads ‘I’m a writer, Let’s Talk About You!’, the story I share with you is somewhat related to this and is very personal to me. When I was about six or seven years old, my handwriting was at its absolute peak of untidiness, my spellings were fantastic considering that I spelled water as ‘woter’, was as ‘vos’ (god knows how I managed to perfect the Russian twinge to my spellings). My class teacher would constantly (much to my dismay) compare me to this girl who seemed to have it all – the perfect handwriting for a first-grader and immaculate spellings. Every day, I would sit out with my handwriting book, and write till the point my pencils would refuse to be sharpened. At night, I would voraciously gobble up Enid Blyton after Enid Blyton but it vos of no avail for quite a while (haha). Then came my first term report card, with no less than these words in bold – ‘Aakanksha must read more books and newspapers to improve her writing skills’ (I was obviously extremely disappointed, yes! I spelled ‘disappointed’ right. My English teacher will be proud). Nine years later, here I am grateful for the prizes I have won and my own blog and I never even realised.
So, where does mental health come in here? My parents never badgered me or made me feel bad about this shortcoming of mine, they always believed in me and maybe that’s what gave me the incentive to believe in myself. No matter what was written on my report card, whether in bold, underlined or italics, I was always encouraged to think freely and make my own decisions- mental health starts from home, much like everything else we know. What I am also trying to say through this is that some things we ought to celebrate, no matter how small. It takes a lot to make even a small change (in my case, a lot of apsara pencils and paperbacks) and by the time it comes to fruition, we forget our journey. Sometimes little thoughts like this, little moments of joy – they inspire us, they are the fuel that keeps us going. So, the next time you are utterly frustrated about your situation, or generally unhappy – remember it took you a lot to get here and you mustn’t let it be in vain.
Enough about me now, Let’s Talk About You!
Signing Off,
Aakanksha
P.S: Special announcement! We have a monthly podcast coming out with my dear friend Maitreyi! Check out the trailer by clicking the link given below. Make sure to follow us if you like it :)
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