Won't the real Slim Shady please stand up?
Sorry, for some reason this is what popped in my head when I was searching for a title for this blog post. *shrugs and continues to hum the song*
It is related to being REAL though, so not completely off topic.
I love real people. None of the fake shit. Tell me like it is. Don't sugar coat it.
The problem is, these days it seems that REAL is so hard to find. Between filters and social media, I feel like so much out there is "fake it till you make it".
I don't want to fake it. I want people to know that I have flaws and I am perfectly imperfect. I'm not ashamed of that.
I want to be the person thay people can come to and be able to say whatever they are thinking/feeling and know that I won't judge them. I want my friends to love me because I am real and honest. I want my family to love me for the same thing. And most of all, I want my patients to look at me and say, "because of you, I know that it's okay to not be perfect and to have problems."
For Christ's sake, my alarm at 0700 every morning says, "take your meds, you crazy ****." I know, not funny to everyone, but it makes me giggle every morning.
Tonight, while sitting outside talking to a friend about myself and my alarm, I said, "if we are going to be crazy, we might as well embrace it." These are the kinds of things that I instilled in my own brain because no one else taught me this. I also told her that seeking help for mental health and taking meds doesn't make you crazy. It means that you recognize that you have mental health issues and are seeking help to work towards being a better version of yourself.
But, man, the stigma! If you had high blood pressure, you would take medicine for it (hopefully, so you wouldn't stroke out and die). But we have depression/anxiety/any other mental health related diagnoses and take meds and we are weak, crazy, reliant on unnecessary meds, addicted to meds, should just get over it, etc.
Why?! In past generations, women were supposed to be strong, flawless, homemakers. The kids were all taken care of, house was spotless, dinner was on the table, and not one word about how terrible the day was or wasn't.
My house is messy, I work full time (a lot of the time more than 40 hours per week), I pay someone to clean my house every 2 weeks, I don't cook very well, and I don't do well at keeping my mouth shut when something is wrong. I would not have made it back then as a wife/mom. It is supposed to be different now. Mindsets have changed.
But, have they? Not really.
Because this idea of perfection that surrounds us; social media, magazines, billboards, even our environment and where we live and where we grew up.
"You're a shit wife and mom because you're on meds for depression, anxiety, ADHD...you don't have a clean house...you're lazy...you're not there to tuck your kids in every night..." It may not always be said out loud, but it runs through people's minds. And we sense it. We know when people are judging us. Because God forbid we have issues and not be able to keep up with everything in this crazy world on our own without help. We are not "cookie cutter" or "perfect", so we aren't good enough.
Well, I am here to say, that is not true.
NO ONE has all their shit together.
NO ONE is perfect.
Some people just prefer to "fake it till you make it".
But, fake happiness is still the worst sadness.
I prefer to "FACE it till I make it."
