Opshori Nondona:
(Continued from the first installment…)
Motherhood’s beauty lies in its uniqueness. The uniqueness of motherhood has always fascinated me for some reason. I love sharing stories with people who are really close to my heart or inspire me. As I was talking about Mother and Mental health in the first part of my article, here comes the second part with more stories including myself.
Katie Hutten is an 18 years old music student from Canada. She is someone who has been in and out of therapy for anxiety and panic. Her mom MJ Chesnutt can be extremely helpful during certain types of anxiety; like when she is nervous or anxious before a performance or about her future. She always helps Katie talk through the things that are bothering her. “My mom is amazing mental support. My mom always helps me to talk through the things that are bothering me. She is an essential part of my life and improves my mental health overall!” said Katie. Sometimes Katie gets panic attacks and she can always rely on her mom for a distraction afterward to help her. “I don’t always tell her how to help but she always tries to help, she is usually really aware of when I’m not doing well,” says Katie. Her mom always tells Katie to take it easier on herself, and this advice has really helped her to maintain reasonable hopelessness for herself and not get anxious about imperfection. “She would tell me to be kind to myself, and to treat myself like a trusted friend, not criticize myself too much.” I really love the way she made Katie be confident by making her trust herself and make her feel how perfect she is!
Shayeri Das is an 18 years old student and a photographer from Kolkata, India. Her mom Mrs. Das always supported her regardless of what. But, she isn’t the type who will be there physically to help her daughter to get through whatever problem her daughter is facing. Because she thinks, if her daughter faces the problem by herself, it’ll make her even stronger and stand up for herself. She’s always been an encouraging mom. She always taught Shayeri not to care about what people think or what people would say about her and always to give her best no matter what. “Well, academic failure was one of my greatest moments of anxiety, and people don’t usually stop to gabble when you drop in that field.” It was the usual stigma of failure that every student normally goes through, which made Shayeri lose faith in herself. “And that’s when mom’s advice and encouraging attitude over the years came in handy”, she said. “I empathize with her because that’s what I should be doing to comfort her and try to console her,” according to Mrs.Das. I love how she’s been an encouraging mother and teaching Shayeri to be independent and strong enough to do her best in everything.
I’m Opshori, a 16 years old student from Bangladesh and that’s me and my Maa in the picture. The relationship with my maa has been unique to any other person in my life. Like most teens, I thought my friends were the closest people in my life. Even sometimes I thought they were closer than my maa. There were times I hid things from maa, I won’t deny. And I regret it because it got me in trouble. My friends weren’t more trustworthy than my maa and at the end of the day, it made me depressed and I had to open up to her. I went through a nightmare and I panicked when I couldn’t talk to anyone. But guess what? I had my maa there for me. After that incident, I don’t think I would ever hide anything from her. The way she hugged me and comforted me, the way she got my back, and the way she made me strong when no one was there for me really made me feel how important mothers are for their children’s mental peace and mental health. Last year I was struggling with my academic results and she helped me a lot and encouraged me to have faith in myself. Maa always tried to be my best friend and tried to be open-minded about most of my decisions and she guided me very well. Maa always says “I want you to know that no matter what I’ll always be there for you, not as a parent but more of as a friend.” Maa always tries to chill us up with yummy foods, movies, and fun activities if I or my sister is having a bad day. She always wants us to have our very own worlds where we would be independent individual souls. I’m so grateful to have you Maa and I love you to infinity.
Every person needs someone in his/her life with whom they can be themselves and they can talk about anything without being judged. The way our mothers hug us, the way they get our back, the way they say “I’m here for you no matter what”, the way they help us to open up, the way they make us feel great about ourselves, the way they help us to grow as a person and the way they love us unconditionally – I don’t think anyone can ever do this for us. Mothers see the best in ourselves no matter how sad, anxious, panicked, or depressed we are. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there who trust us when no one does and who encourages us to be the person we all want to be. Thanks for making us believe in ourselves and helping us to become the best version of us.
To read the first installment, Click Here.