The invisible man would like to thank......

Give me a reason

I gotta know
Do you feel it too?
Can't you see me here on overload
And this time I blame you
Looking out for you to hold my hand
It feels like I could fall

David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland. When Love Takes Over

Chuckled to myself yesterday thinking about the episode of Father Ted and the speech he makes when accepting the Golden Cleric Award.

Well following in a similar vein, and with tongue slightly in cheek, I would like to thank the following men’s health, mental health and suicide charities for reaching out to me in my hours of need:

🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

Where the feck were you? 

I’ve quickly learned that developing a mental illness is a great way of becoming invisible to the majority, especially, if certainly not exclusively, in the world of business. I don’t want this to come across as anything other than a reflection of my own personal experience and feelings. Others may perceive things very differently.

 I’ve had a lot of wonderfully supportive friends reach out with messages of love, hope. Being there regardless of whether I reply or not, understanding that silence doesn’t mean I’m not listening and appreciating them. I’ve made some wonderful new friends too who have been going through or have gone through similar experiences. I’ve occasionally been able to give back to them too. . 

I’d like to think that much of the silence you experience is down to people not knowing what to say. I keep going back to the analogy of breaking a bone or having a physical illness, you’ll get plenty of get well soon and how are you doing/how’s it going messages, and of course, you’ll likely love getting all those messages and reply to them all almost instantaneously, as that is how life is these days. 

Perhaps, despite all the millions invested in ‘awareness raising’ there’s still huge stigma around mental illness. Surely not!

Last night I went on to LinkedIn for the first time since January. It reminded me just how much it looks like a decade old Facebook. But also left me feeling really disheartened at a total lack of messages, other than spam. Maybe I’m just feeling a bit down today, I don’t know, but I realise how easy it is to become invisible and forgotten if you’re not of use to others.

A big part of the old me was being a connector, regardless of whether it was of benefit to me or the organisation I was representing, I’ve always enjoyed linking people up. I’d get a buzz from it and used to get so many messages each day that would end up with me putting people in touch with others who could help benefit their career/cause/mission/company.

I’ve missed that. But also now wonder how much thought I put into that role impacted on my own energy and mental health and whether it was worth it? 

Oh and one last thing. How the hell is it October already?

Love and virtual hugs 

Blot x