Kermit’s Cup of Tea: Friday Findings

Happy Friday, friends! We made it to this week’s finish line, and are just a few short weeks away from summer vacation (woohoo)! Earlier this week I shared that May is National Mental Health Awareness month, and if you’ve been keeping up with the blog, you’ll know that Kermit Says… devoted this week’s posts to all things mental health. One thing I realized is that some individuals oftentimes privilege visible illnesses over invisible ones. Why? Why do we take a broken fist more seriously than a broken mind? Just because you can’t see that someone is suffering, doesn’t mean it’s not happening and it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do all we can to support them and provide resources to help them.

There are First Aid Kits in just about every school, store, and office building, right? If you cut your finger, you can always grab a bandaid from the nurse’s office, but what about when there’s an invisible pain? Let’s also stock Mental Health Kits! We can all use a set of tools to help us when we’re anxious, nervous, sad, frustrated, unloved, and any other feeling(s) on any given day.

Well, it seems like I’m not the only one who thinks this is a brilliant and effective idea (though the findings were quite few and far in between)! Below are some things from Mental Illness Mouse I think might be worth including in a mental health tool box, comfort box, survival kit, or whatever you want to call it.

• Coloring books (you know I love the stress-reducing ones) and coloring utensils
• Stress ball
• A journal
• Letters from loved ones
• Favorite snack

If you’re not interested in making your own kit, The Blurt Foundation’s BuddyBox: A Hug in a Box (or BuddyBox Lite) is another great option if you’re living in the UK. Every month, you get “at least 5 full-size quality products hand-picked to nourish, inspire and encourage self-care.” What do you think? Are there things you’d add or subtract? Comment below!