Toxic community.
After writing my outline for this article, I happened to turn on Hamilton’s “You’ll Be Back” (performed by King George III) sitting in the car line so I could surprise my first grader with her favorite song from the musical. While sillily singing along, it hit me, this song has all the elements of a toxic community that I had just outlined: gaslighting, misuse of power, and possessiveness.
It took 18 long months for my oldest child to start sleeping through the night. There were weeks where I was sleeping in 20-60 minute spurts and barely staying awake despite the IV of coffee I lived on. I was in pure survival mode. The last thing on my mind was how I could serve God by making disciples and serving others. All I could focus on was when I could catch a nap and how to be needed the least amount possible by others. I knew this couldn’t be what God intended motherhood to look like, but I couldn’t see a way out either.
Good mental health is vitally important for us all and 2020 has certainly challenged our ability to fully experience it. With this in mind, along with September 10th being Suicide Prevention Day, we wanted to redirect you to a sampling of the great mental health content that we’ve produced over the years on our blog at www.councilroadwomen.org. I am inexplicably grateful for the insights and personal vulnerability the authors of these articles have shared.
As I write this, the Covid-19 pandemic is still altering our daily lives. The racial injustices of our country’s systems are being called to carpet for accountability and change. Every media and social media outlet is saturated with this content. Even the commercials of our favorite shows (Jeopardy!) have been altered in a way to remind us of these crises. These things are so big and overwhelming that we start to wonder if we should even bother engaging.
As I write this, it’s a mere few days after Christmas and I’m already seeing it: the post-Christmas blues. Instagram posts of Christmas decor abound with captions already lamenting the day it will have to be put away. Some are sad for the kids to have to go back to school (though I suspect some are not).
