What type of Peppy are you?

I am a bird. With one wing. Flying high. Flying free.

Anyone who has ever lived in a large city will know that pigeons are an integral part of city life. Whether we like them or not, they are all around us.

A few years ago I was walking along a beach at sunset, and I remember seeing some pigeons pecking for food in the sand. What struck me though, was how beautiful they looked. Vibrant colours, superb plumage, unlike any pigeon I had ever seen, yet the same breed as its city cousins.

I'm not sure where the exact connection came but it got me thinking. Thinking about the city birds and how they cling to survival. How so many may be missing a foot or even a wing yet they still find a way to fly, and still hobble forward in their quest for food.

And I started to wonder what we would look like if all our scars were visible. The trauma of loss. The trauma of abuse. The trauma of an accident. It may not be pretty but what would it look like? If mental health scars were visible, what type of street pigeon would we each look like?

Yesterday was #WorldMentalHealthDay and I was thinking about how deeply mental health affects so many people. The pain we carry, invisible to the outside world. I thought about recovery and the incredible courage it takes to take that first step. Any of you who have, will know how deeply painful it can be. While trauma itself may be can leave us maimed and hobbling, recovery can almost be like going through an amputation to get a prosthetic or breaking a limb to straighten it again. In each case we need to learn to walk again. In each case we go through deep pain as we face our past.

I always say that mental health and the path to recovery is a deeply personal choice. For some, the choice will be to keep hobbling on. For others, the choice will be the journey of recovery to finally run again.

I am the Peppy with one wing. I wanted to feel the wind through my wings again. I wanted to fly.

What type of Peppy are you?

#worldmentalhealthday2018 #neverstopworking #neverstoplearning #neverstopdreaming #makelearninghappen #discoveryoucan #RuthZannis

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