If you aren’t in the loop, on December 31st, I announced my new social cause for Style Your Life. I am now working with women in recovery from mental illness and addiction.
After a few very long and hard years, I finally decided to help my anxiety and depression. I was first diagnosed with depression when my son was born in 2003. Although I am pretty sure I have struggled with depression and anxiety most of my adult life. Getting help is the best thing I have ever done for myself, and I wish I had the courage to do this years ago…
I just kept thinking I’d bounce back, and life kept throwing shit at me. When Covid hit the financial strain and a long list of personal issues, I hit a wall in September. It was the worst and best day. Because I could not continue down the same path. I had tapped all my tools and resources, and it just wasn’t enough. I needed help.
So I got some real help, like in-treatment help. I checked into a program and for 90 days lived, ate, slept, and breathed, working on my mental health. I learned a tremendous amount about myself; I learned tools, tricks, and more than I realized was possible. It was awful and painful and the hardest thing I have ever done, but it helped a lot. I was able to process things I had never processed and talk about things I had never talked about. This path changed me in the best way. I continue working on my mental health every.single.day. My mental health is the most important thing in my life, and your mental health should be your number one too.
I will no longer be quiet about my illness, so people “like” me or don’t think I am “crazy.” I am crazy, lol, and so are you probably. But not because I have a chemical imbalance in my brain. I was born this way. I didn’t ask for this illness, and I didn’t do anything to get it. It is part of who I am, and it is not going anywhere, so I will always have to make sure I am doing the things that help make it better. If I had cancer, I would have sot treatment and gotten help and people wouldn’t have judged me. And more importantly, I wouldn’t have judged myself. So why do we judge mental illness?
After my treatment and meeting SOOO MANY wonderful women that also just needed some help too, I thought, why can’t I use this other amazing part of me, this skill that I love, to help others. I have the clothes, and I have the ability to teach, so I decided to start helping. Then my amazing friend Tracy Snock from The Career Kickstarter told me about her business, and I knew it was magic!
The lovely Tracy and I hosted our first event on February 2oth. Tracy presented resume & job interview tips and tricks, and I did what I do and talked about personal style & dressing for job interviews. Then, because of our friend’s and client’s generosity, we could gift these lovely women each a few outfits. The ladies had a wonderful time and left with their heads held high—newfound confidence in themselves and fabulous new outfits.
My goal for 2021 is to host one of these events every other month. If you know of a facility in San Diego interested in having us, please reach out to me or share this with them. We donate our time and talents, so there is no financial obligation.
Special thanks to Angela at Create with Gusto for donating her time and taking these photos for us! And my beautiful, inside and out, friend Gina for all your hours of work.