[BE W EL L] M E N T A L H E A L T H E S S A Y
Lifelong Journey to Wellness
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Better Box By Sarah Angle
When I got divorced five years ago, I didn’t even know what the word “resilience” meant. I was a big blubbering mess. Still trying hard (and failing a lot) to parent a 3-year-old daughter, reshape my career, learn how to manage money and a household, and kill a cockroach with my own shoe, instead of asking my husband to do it. I remember those days very well. The moments of
extreme joy were punctuated by moments of fear, sadness and despair — like Amelia in my small kitchen icing cookies and dropping tiny handfuls of pastel-colored sprinkles on the table (and all over the floor) while wishing so much for another adult to just share the air in the room. I wanted another adult to bring me a wet paper towel to clean up those glorious cookie crumbles.
I wanted another adult to ask me how I’m doing. I wanted another adult to tell me, “It gets better.” For all my education, support from my parents, and overall privilege, I wasn’t doing well. In those moments and the year that followed, I was so immersed in my own pain and loneliness that I didn’t know what I really needed to feel better — besides the obvious more money and time.
