Hello, hello! We meet in the new year hopefully feeling excited and motivated for what’s to come. At least that’s the hope, right? I had come off of my Holiday high which wasn’t super pleasant, but I found a new project and I’ve been excited to share it with you! January has been busy to date but now I get to unveil what I’ve been working on: A 2023 Bell Let’s Talk initiative!
The previous two years I had made a video for John Abbott College on mental health/illness awareness. This January I’m no longer a student so I was missing the involvement. I decided to create my own way to mark this important day and I’m very grateful to those helping me make that happen!
The Goal:
With some research, I found the organization I plan on donating the funds to: The Canadian Mental Health Association. Donations are used to fund everything from awareness campaigns to research and resources.
Where and How:
To date, 3 locations will be participating in this fundraiser: The Adult Education School where I take Chemistry, the pet store I work at, and the nearby Amir that my fiancé and enjoy.
I was thrilled that everyone at the school loved the idea, including the counsellor that comes every two weeks. We’re working on activities for the actual Wednesday of Bell Let’s Talk and are planning a discussion group on mental health that will run the whole school year. I found out today that the money I’m spending on supplies like laminated posters and such will be reimbursed; we’re getting a kind of grant for this project.
This is the first poster I put up at school from the Bell Let’s Talk toolkit online:
I’m also very grateful because my boss agreed to let me host a bake sale for clients on Saturday January 28th. She didn’t have to and many bosses would’ve said no. Some of my coworkers will help by contributing baked goods and I’ll be there with Mia for a good few hours.
I also brought a collection container to the local Amir. It was very kind of them to participate; I’m actually surprised and it means a lot to me. Every bit counts!
The ‘me’ part of this:
I’m happy that I’ve been going through a mainly ‘high’ episode because otherwise I wouldn’t be succeeding at getting everything done. Even then, I’m borderline overwhelmed as f*ck! What’s helping tremendously is that I feel very passionate about this project. So even though it’s a lot of work, it feels 150% worth it. I’ve also been planning my fiancé’s birthday which is this Monday, but I’m almost all ready to go. Time management has been crucial!
On a side note, I’ve been meaning to show you a couple of art pieces I made.
Hopefully I’ll be back soon with an update… Have a great weekend everyone!
I Will Not BE My Mental Illness 