Becoming
- J. Farley
- Sep 6, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 7, 2020
A friend recently began posting photos of himself with the hashtag #becoming and I can't help smiling when I see them in my social media feed. He has struggled with mental health for a while, the last time I saw him in person I came home and cried. How could my funny, smart friend have morphed into this quiet, shell of a person? It felt like I was sitting across from a stranger. I can only imagine what it felt like to him. Recently, though there's been a shift. He is posting videos and photos of him at home and out in the world, laughing and smiling. I look forward to seeing his posts and watching his videos because it's not just my friend showing encouraging signs of mental health, he is also becoming more authentically him.
And so, it is with more than a passing interest that I've been following his progress and thinking about the act of becoming. What happens to us in this process? Aren't we all becoming? I know I am (some days more than others). Currently I'm becoming a mental health professional, transitioning away from business after years of doing work that was, while lucrative and sometimes fun, ultimately not that fulfilling. I kept thinking "I don't want to be 95 years old (because apparently that's how long I'm going to live) and say all I ever did was help people make money" (which, I know, helps them do many more things, but you get my drift). I wasn't put on this earth to be a Sales Executive. I wanted to do something that contributed to society in some meaningful way.
Sometimes the Universe conspires to put you where you need to be. I was able to leave my life in business with enough money to not have to work for a while. A few months later I sold my beloved
first home for surprisingly more than expected to join my newly-minted husband at his home (now our home). Add to it the emotional support and encouragement of said husband and I had everything I needed to attend grad school full time. In addition to becoming a mental health professional/social worker, I was also becoming a grad student, a kick-ass wife to Alan, and a step-mom (you'd need to ask Michelle if the kick-ass moniker follows me into that territory).
So here we are, this site is becoming my graduate portfolio, housing all of my reflections on the work I'll be doing this year and beyond. I'll be writing about social work, advocacy, mental health,
social justice, trauma, clinical practice, self care, and more, as well as furthering my exploration into yoga and meditation (I am currently a registered yoga teacher, working toward becoming a certified meditation teacher). It might be too much, finishing my graduate work and doing an additional certification in the same academic year, but it's the pandemic, and I'm not doing anything else, so I might as well use my time wisely.
It didn't occur to me until I began this post that Becoming is also the title of Michelle Obama's book. Hey, I'm happy to share that journey with someone as awesome as Michelle. It says something that even a former first lady feels she is still in the process of becoming. Anyone who cares about the trajectory of their life, and tries to evolve and grow is in the process of becoming. Maybe we can figure out how to become something better together, as a society that has more compassion, more humanity, more healthcare, more supports for the poor and vulnerable, more honesty, more facts, and more citizens that care about each other.
I asked my friend if he he would be OK with me talking a little bit about him to lead into my first post on this site. He said "go for it." Thanks Joseph. For anyone interested in a podcast about living with depression you can check out his "I'm OK" podcast on Spotify at the link below. He adds his voice to the many voices attempting to destigmatize mental health issues.
As for me, I'll be here for the foreseeable future, writing, reading, studying and interning, practicing mad meditation skills, and #becoming. I hope you'll join me now and then.
~Jodi
Joseph's Podcast "Be OK"
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