The lasting impact volunteering has on volunteers’ mental and emotional wellbeing,
They say time heals everything, and I agree. Without going into much detail, I’ve been struggling with my mental health for a significant time, and it made itself known louder once I started university. Although everything looked as it should, I felt grey and dull in ways I couldn’t describe. I was so habitually mature in understanding my state that I couldn’t lean on others as effectively as I could’ve. My days rolled out in a blur, and I existed in a dissonance, quietly numbing and draining.
Is this too depressing to say out loud? Well, it is what it is. I say that today – a bright sunny day in March, when the earth is waking up again from the silence of the winter days. And with her, I too am basking in the light, feeling anew. Time does heal a lot of things. What they forget to mention is the medium through which time makes it happen.
It’s community. Fellow humans who are willing to be patient with you, willingly slowing themselves down to match your pace. People who share their warmth and care nestled in kindness, without expecting anything in return. For someone who was like driftwood washing up in various places, I ended up at Discovery SVS on a random day. It was supposed to be just another fun thing to keep myself busy and occupied. And the humans I met there grew on me like moss reclaiming barren ground, helping me nurture my inner garden one “hello lovely” at a time.
I wonder if it’s the Welshness of the place, the vibrance of the diverse individuals that walk through that door, or the general bubbliness of the Discovery staff – comfiness is the feeling that enraptures me when I think of them. I wonder if you can feel me smiling as I write this. I hope you do. For someone who was a lost ship wandering about in the sea, Discovery truly discovered me. It called me back to land, brought me home, and told me, “Hey, I see you”. It wasn’t about them solving every issue I had, but helping me realize that I wasn’t walking a lonely road. And that even on my bleakest days, there was still something to look forward to.
While everyone knows how volunteering with Discovery helps one develop their soft skills in a collaborative environment, I wish to share the lasting impact it has on its volunteers’ mental and emotional wellbeing, by providing them with a space where they can be themselves and express their innermost – otherwise unspeakable – turmoils, and still be greeted with a gentle smile and a reassuring pat on the back, saying “We’ve got you”. What a blessing to have met the team at Discovery SVS and a privilege to have joined their projects!
My garden has flowers blooming now, in case you were wondering. Time does heal. It brings you people who feel like home. Let them in. You’re never alone, lovely 😊