The days and weeks and months are passing quicker than ever. While I’m desperately missing work events and accessible tourism projects, lockdown certainly hasn’t left me bored!

Purple Goat passed its 6 month birthday in October. I’ve loved every minute of growing our brand awareness, building relationships with many different businesses, building a kick ass team, and delivering quality campaigns for our clients! 

I’ve also worked hard on maintaining my independence and health through this weird year. As you’ll know from many a previous post – my care, adapted car and accessible home takes a LOT of work to maintain. 

Health wise, physically it is all about common sense. Good sleep, good exercise, good food and good fun. I had a breathing check up at the hospital on Thursday which showed I’m doing great. 

Mental health wise, however, has been tougher for me during Covid19. So much so I actually turned to a few therapy sessions in September and October. Something that previously seemed unnecessary and carried a stigma with it for me.

It turns out it’s the best thing I ever did! The major initial problem that lead me to having therapy was resulting from the anxiety I felt with this pandemic. The risk having care PAs in the home posed, and the massive reduction in social interaction. This year also helped surface other anxieties from the past, across different areas of life, and ultimately it all needed addressing with new strategies.

I’ve learnt a lot from therapy about myself, about what I want from life, about how the past doesn’t need to define me, about how to articulate my needs, while still maintaining empathy for others (for example imagine how complex having care PAs can be for all concerned!).

So as we creep towards the holiday period and close out one of the weirdest years yet. I wanted to share this mental health anecdote, as I know it’ll be helpful to some of you reading this. 

I also want to say that after doing some serious inner work, I’m excited for my upcoming content plans, future experiences with loved ones (however physically distanced they may be), and to growing Purple Goat in to the world’s largest disability agency for true global inclusion. Not forgetting the fact Trump is going! 

If you read this post and are worried about me, please don’t fret. I’m feeling better than ever, and feel like this was an important part of my personal development. I’m not writing for a reaction here, but because I want anyone else struggling right now to know it’s ok to seek support in times of difficulty. We need to look after our mental health the way we should our physical health.

For me therapy was more about preventing bigger future problems, rather than curing a terrible situation later on. Stay well, stay safe, stay positive.