INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we want to continue to give you some tangible tips to help all of us push through this ongoing crisis of COVID-19.
13News Anchor Andrea Morehead shares how your imagination is the foundation for “The Comeback.”
“If you take the time to just step back and say, 'what is it I truly want, what is it that I think I can do,' I think your imagination can carry you far," says licensed therapist NaKaisha Tolbert-Banks.
She suggests we use this time to be creative, and let your imagination run away! She and some other central Indiana Therapists have joined forces to create the Crisis Support Collective to offer free therapy for those on the front lines.
“It also gives us the ability to be able to start to create some of those things so that when we are in this next phase of life after the pandemic has kind of shifted, and we’re able to get back out into society all of these things we’ve imagined, now we can put those things to use," Tolbert-Banks said.
We’ve seen how the Zoom parties and drive-by celebrations are now used to mark memorable occasions, but don’t forget to imagine the impossible -- maybe it’s picking up that instrument you haven’t played in years, like my husband Archie who inspired our son Ean to play. He's missing his school recitals, so he imagined those moments on our front porch.
“Children are not exempt from this process of creating and using their imagination and being able to doing things that they’ve always wanted to do," Tolbert-Banks said.
Now that you have the time, there are no limits to what you can do - from a new skill to a new hobby like art, and from talking about picnics to having them. The freedom to be in the moment affirms your mental health.
“Imagine things. Maybe how you want them to be moving forward or how you would like yourself to be present right now. How do you want to show up? How do you want to show up now?" Tolbert-Banks said.
So let your imagination fuel your action to create a more intentional life.
“When we come out of this, when we are back into society and we’re all moving around, we’re all gonna’ have a new energy," Tolbert-Banks said.
If you are a front line worker or know a health care provider who would like to receive free therapy, contact the Crisis Support Collective.
If you have a COVID-19 related story that can inspire all us to get through this together, email Andrea at thecomeback@wthr.com.