Out of the Closet: Mental Health Awareness, Color Palettes and May Mayhem

May is mental health awareness month. The calendar is so packed with recognitions, celebrations and memorials that don’t have equal weight. I nearly missed it, skipped right over mental health awareness though everything is conspires to bring it front and center. In the past month my blood pressure which I’d gotten to a good point of 115/60 has spiraled up, way up above 150 and gastro intestinal issues have increased, everything that points to stress…or should we call it what it is, mental health. This week, I got a cold or maybe first year a new place allergies. My body has rebelled – nah, you are not going to push through and keep going. This week, you are going to pitter patter around the house and relax. That’s when I discovered the time warp.

I tidied my closet here in Boston and the dates on photos showed I did the same thing at the same time last year in Oakland. Two things stood out, I need organization. It’s not something for me to get over, a lack of it impacts my state of mind. That’s a constant. The second, my olive color palette stood out. As I browsed over the old photos it’s been a constant. While some gravitate to black, white, navy or camel as a base pallet, mine is olive. Olive, kind of an army green, a darker khaki has been in my wardrobe in some in the last 15 years or so. One of the novels in the Talented Mr Ripley series goes into how to discover art forgeries; the color pallet. The artist pallet evolves and there is a consistency in the palates used in a period of time. The giveaway is a painting said to be done in one time frame is inconsistent with the palate of paintings in the same time frame and harkens back to a color pallet in a different period. I am not an artist nor do I have a background in art history. That stuck with me and reminded me of the consistency in my color palette which brings me comfort. As does collecting data, which gets me to the next point.

With the crazy blood pressure, I started a spreadsheet with what I’m eating and blood pressure readings by time of day. Please, don’t act surprised that’s me, As long as I was doing that, I added daily weight and any gastro issues. That’s how I discovered the two are related or at least appear to be so. It’s not just what I eat, it’s what I think. Olive has been a constant, a base color; there is room for variations, pops of color and even a total change in direction. Something I can visually see. With health a little different. Occasional high blood pressure, like a pop of color. Consistent for a while is an unwelcome change. This is where there the next paragraph should be a conclusion.

But, it’s not. This is an observation, an invitation to determine next steps. Each of us would approach this differently in accordance with personal choice. In this month of mental health awareness, consider at any time, how you approach your mental health and your stress. What determines if something is off and how do you recognize it? How do you differentiate between the need to adapt to a new normal versus something is out of line. What is mental health to you and are you healthy?