Wholeness

I am a whole person having an experience that includes my mental health. This is completely normal. My experience does not define me, and neither does yours. You are 'good enough,' and I implore you to gently look at your own self-stigmatizing behavior and systematically erase it. The stigma we experience is not our fault; it is a construct of society. Society has deemed through ignorance that people who are having a mental health experience are less than those who are 'normal.' There is no such thing as normal because we are all glorious in our individuality. We all have lived experience; this is what we call our lives, and it is a privilege to experience life on this planet for the fleeting amount of time we have. Wholeness is about letting go of the values and biases that society pins upon us and embracing all of our parts, no matter how challenging or 'imperfect.' Perfection is not what we seek here; it is 'good enough.' This can and does mean a variety of things. It can mean letting go of self-stigmatization, it can be embracing the areas of our life where we excel, it can mean becoming more than we already are. We don't need to be perfect; we need dignity, respect, and compassion to help us navigate this society and its biases. Wholeness is not perfection; it is a state of being human. We are all human regardless of our mental health status. Let's start acting like it!