If someone were to ask me, what my favorite day of the week is, my response would be “Garbage Day.” There is something so beautiful about watching that big truck pick up my garbage cans, dump all the contents, and drive it off down the road. Never to be seen again.
Now, I am not going to sit here and tell you that this doesn’t sound weird. In all honesty, throughout the last year of being in my home 24/7 thanks to COVID, Garbage Day is one thing I have learned to not only appreciate, but truly love.
This past week, I sat at my window with my toddlers, who are obsessed with garbage trucks. We watched the process of our trash going from can to curb to being carried away. My oldest, who is about 4, said, “Wow, Mommy! Look! They took all our garbage away! Bye bye garbage. We won’t see you tomorrow!” As he said that, I thought to myself, “I wish I could have that truck take the mental garbage away; the way it takes the real garbage away.
A mental health garbage day….
I wish I could put out the things that make me anxious, scared, angry, or fog my mind for no good reason. Then, one day a week, I could watch them just hauled away…NEVER to be seen again.
Now, I know realistically this can’t happen, but darn wouldn’t it be cool if it could?! If Mental Health Garbage Days really were a thing, there would be a lot more on the curb come Garbage Day. Let me tell you, there’s already far too much.
This week the truck would be taking away the following:
My insecurities about my body, my parenting skills, my ability to please my husband (or lack of ability), my skills of being a “pet” parent to the furry, feathered, and scaly creatures that live in my home, lack of social media “coolness” and about my mental health. Hello postpartum depression turned “good ol’ depression.” You can take your seat at the curb now.
My anxieties about my messy house, bills/budgeting, raising my kids “right”, COVID (or really any illness for that matter), what other people think of me, wondering if I am doing a good job at everything. Am I doing a good job at this?
My past, hurt feelings that are hard to let go of, traumas that are hard to forget, and resentment towards things that I know can’t change.
The truth is, my curb would be so full on Mental Health Garbage Day that you probably wouldn’t be able to see past all the JUNK to see my house…to see me.
And that reality is something that really hurts.
I let all this garbage build walls between me and the outside world. I wait for someone to take it all away, when in reality I have to take it the curb myself. But that’s scary right? Because then, it’s out there for the whole world to see.
Well, the good news is we could all have these days together. Put our “garbage” on the curb and not judge the person next to us for what they are laying out there to get rid of. Because honestly, we might just be throwing away something very similar, which would help us realize that we are not alone.
So, I’ll leave you with this little activity:
Draw a garbage can and write in it all the things this week that you wish you could “throw away”. Then, put it in your actual garbage can and take that can to the curb! Then, on Garbage Day, literally let that truck take that paper along with all your mental garbage written on it, away for good. Never to be seen again!
And then, breathe. Have a cup of coffee. Momma, you got this!
