The Beginning of All Wisdom

I’ve always been a little bit of a nerd. I love learning new things, except math. Math sends my anxiety to a whole new level. But I love reading about history, politics, theology, and especially psychology.

Growing up with family members who have battled various psychological disorders, I was always acutely aware of the importance of mental health. As I entered my teen years and especially into adulthood, I have found myself involved in more than a few controversial conversations. The truth is in our culture, despite how progressive we claim to be, there is still a stigma attached to mental health. You can’t see a mental illness and more often than not, if we can’t see something it unnerves us and we are reluctant to grant it entrance into the realm of possibility. Those who suffer from any kind of mental illness are met with suspicion and sometimes even fear. We are quick to label them as weak or lazy rather than acknowledging that the brain, the mind, is an organ of the body that is just as susceptible to illness as the heart, lungs, liver, blood, etc.

I began my own fight against clinical depression and anxiety a few years ago. And although I grew up around others who bore similar diagnoses, I was resistant to and ashamed of my own because to accept this diagnosis was to admit that I could not control an aspect of my life as a “normal” person does and that frightened me. If there’s one thing I despise, it is feeling out of control of my life.

Fortunately, I have an amazing support system who encouraged me to turn this negative into a positive. After all, I can better advocate for change in the perception of mental illness if I have an inside perspective. So I began researching. I met with a counselor who gave me some great resources and I started arming myself with knowledge.

Aristotle said “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom,” and I think he was definitely on to something. Throughout my journey I have studied all manner of theories related to the mind from neurobiological strategies to the ever popular personality studies. The one thing that holds true for all of this is that the more I learn about my mind and how I was created, the better I understand myself, the more grace I have for my shortcomings, and the better equipped I feel to be the best version of myself.

So now that you know what propelled me into this ever-growing field of study, I hope you will continue the journey with me. And hopefully, some of what I discover can help you know yourself better, too.