At The Skills Centre we often worry how the holidays impact our Clients.
Dr. Emma Hepburn (@thepsychologymum):”Stick a Santa hat on anything and it makes it Christmassy- so I’d like to introduce my Christmas iceberg.
The original iceberg was inspired by a post last year by @apniuk which said: “BELOW THE SURFACE
Often we only see the tip of the iceberg. But 90% of an iceberg is below the surface.
So make that extra effort to look beyond what’s visible, look below the surface to understand the depth and complexity in everyone around you.”
As a human service worker, I am lucky to hear what’s beneath the surface and for many people there is a great amount going on that we just don’t see, and often couldn’t guess. The lady who looks like she’s got it all together feels like she’s useless if anything doesn’t go as planned. The mum who didn’t engage with you and appeared slightly rude is wracked with anxiety about meeting other mums as she thinks she’s weird for finding this new mum malarkey difficult. The person who is the life and soul of the party goes home and ruminates about everything they said and thinks they made an idiot of themselves.
At Christmas time the picture of perfection is thrown at us from all angles. It can appear that everyone is having a magical time, with their picture-perfect families, making magic Christmas memories. This can be in stark contrast to what we are feeling. But the reality is that many people find this season stressful. So often the picture-perfect image is just an illusion and there’s a lot going on underneath the surface that we just don’t share about ourselves or see in others. We love the Psychology Mom’s picture below that illustrates some of the thoughts that we fill our heads and hearts with.
The trick is to STOP… and FEEL.
Make room for this time of year to be reflective, and truthful. Honor where you are and not the “Hallmark” version of society’s idea of where we should be…
Merry Christmas to each and every one of you, and may the simplest joy’s of the holiday fill your heart~
From the Board and Staff of The Princeton & District Community Skills Centre
