Thursday, November 29, 2012

Happy Hour!!

You ever have one of those days when you just need to get a drink after work? I had one of those days today. And I put out the call for happy hour drinking buddies at about 10:00 this morning. (Don't judge me, it's been one of those kind of weeks...)

Folks had stuff to do, so I only had one happy hour homie today, which was fine, because we had some awesome conversations, especially since I hadn't seen her in a while. One of the things we talked about was mental illness, depression, grief and anxiety (sparkling happy hour conversation, I know) and she helped me put words to some things that I think I subconsciously knew, but weren't in the forefront of my mind.

We talked about how being in Student Affairs actually trains you really well to deal with the shit that goes on in your own life. I don't know of many career fields where you may deal with suicide attempts, fires, drug overdoses, alcohol poisoning, sexual assault, physical assault and eating disorders and help people work through those issues. Doing that really helps you be able to put your own problems into perspective. So when I see people on tv in therapy for grief and make great, lifelong friendships, I wonder if I'm doing something wrong in my grief process. But, since we all know that tv is not the end all, be all of difficult life situations, and because I have been a Student Affairs warrior, I can compartmentalize, rationalize and grieve in my own way. And that's okay.

So today, I'm thankful for friends who a) know you well enough to pick your brain about what you're struggling with and b) help you actually put words to the abstract thoughts in your head. Tulls, here's to you my friend :-)

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