It’s Self-CARE not Selfish!
Jen shares the best piece of advice she’s received about looking after her mental health.
Today we are getting to know the lovely Jen, from Our Mental World. We were drawn into her journey when she shared on Instagram that she had handed in her resignation at her old job. She decided it was time to put her own mental health first and you know we can’t resist it when someone shows themselves that kind of respect and love!
So naturally, we wanted to get to know her a little better and she obliged! Shall we get down to it then?
1. What’s your perfect Sunday?( Yes, this is from Hot Fuzz)
Waking up with my dog on my feet, cuddling up with hubby. PJ day on the sofa watching David Attenborough or binging a series.
2. What’s your favourite film?
Most Disney films but if I had to pick…Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Toy Story, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones (90’s kid haha!).
3. We know you’ve just changed jobs recently, what’s your new one like?
My new job is great! It is quite a relaxed environment. How can you be sad or down when you can see bunnies and doggies*? I enjoy retail and being active and I’m getting a healthy balance between work and home again!
*Jen’s new job is a Sales Colleague at a pet retailer
4. When did you know you were ready to change jobs?
It did take me a while to be honest, I am guilty in feeling bad for leaving a job even if it is the right thing for me.
I have been having therapy once a week for 16 weeks now and it has helped me realise that to get what I want personally (we are trying to start a family and sadly I have had two miscarriages, end of January and end of May this year) I needed to re-evaluate my life and the stresses that were wearing me down.
My previous job was a massive issue (no proper time off, days off I was still getting messages and calls, I’d worry about going in, etc).
5. Any advice for anyone who’s not happy at work and looking for a change?
Take a breath, have a good think, weigh up the pro’s and con’s (try not to focus on money!), talk through it with your partner or family/ friends.
Only look to move to something you care about, don’t settle for something that will circle you back round to how you already feel.
6. Best piece of advice you’ve been given about looking after your mental health?
It’s Self-CARE not Selfish!
7. Dogs or cats?
Dogs
8. Favourite food?
Pizza!
9. What do you wish you were good at ( but unfortunately you are not!)?
Dancing
We want to know more about your Instagram page that you run with your Cousin Lisa!
1. Who is it for?
Anyone and everyone who is trying to find ways to help themselves with their mental health, it is such an important thing, and we often forget to look after ourselves in that way.
2. What is it about?
It is about our mental health journeys (we have struggled and still do struggle with our mental health) the page is to highlight how normal it is and what we are doing/ have done before that helps us. We also reply to private messages from people that just want a bit of advice (we are not trained therapists but we know it is good to chat to someone that is out of the immediate circle so we are not bias).
3. What made you want to start it?
My cousin Lisa started the page originally, under the name “anxiety and me at 23”, a few months ago now I felt an urge to share my mental health journey. However, I couldn’t commit to starting a whole fresh page myself so I asked Lisa if I could partner with her page. She graciously agreed and we amended the name and we designed a new logo and it has been great for both of us,. We’ve grown the page and it’s lovely that we have each other to lean on to progress the page and help whoever we can.
Thanks Jen for sharing a bit about you! You can follow Jen’s story over on her and Cousin Lisa’s IG page above.
