The Power of Connection

I hosted a summer mental health panel yesterday. It was a group of a few women gathered at an Italian restaurant on a hot day. The goal was to have an open and comfortable conversation around some difficult topics.

As a group, we laughed, cried and got vulnerable. But with every challenge, we powered up. Connection is super important in our hyperconnected but distant world. It can feel so challenging to build meaningful conversations that humans were meant to have. As a society, it can feel impossible to have an uninterrupted conversation. But we did and it was amazing.

I opened up by talking about the impact that trauma can have on the body and mind. The focus of my panel was to introduce different types of trauma, how it’s subjective and some of the consequences it can have if it’s not properly addressed. This lead us into our next panelist who shared her story of recovery. Karen Rubinstein shared a powerful story filled with pain and beauty.

We paused our more formal conversation to eat a delicious lunch. But you can fill the curiosity and passion for positive change throughout the room. After that, Ana Jorge talked about the importance of work/life balance and how we often misinterpret it. We concluded the conversation with a beautiful introduction to charkas by Miriam Belov. The goal was to build a warm, inclusive look with various perspectives and I was so happy it was successful!

This shows how amazing true connection and people showing up is. It made my heart so happy to hear the positive feedback. It’s so important for us to have these conversations. So many people are struggling alone with mental illness, addiction and trauma. These are people who feel like they don’t have a voice. But it’s courageous people who come out and make these people feel heard. It helps people who are suffering in silence not feel so alone.

Since this is such an important topic and it was well-received, I’m planning on doing another one in the Fall. Are you in the mental health space and like to share your message? Reach out to me at gfico.empower@gmail.com to learn more!