Trigger Warning — Mention of Depression, Anxiety
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
If I were to describe the beginning of my journey with In-mind, I would use this proverb. In-mind stands strong on two pillars — one, the journey of its Founder, and two, a need to build a world more considerate about Mental Health.
It is often said that understanding a problem in its entirety is difficult unless one lives through it. I believe it to be true. Being unaware of Mental Health and the issues related to it for the significant part of my life, it was only three years back when I realised how frightening it could be to embrace a world that looks darker than the darkness of the night sky.
The Struggle
I would lie awake, at times throughout the night. Staying occupied at work would help during the day, but numbness would land in as the sun set. Unaware of terms like anxiety, insomnia, or panic attack, the only known word was depression. I was sure that the word could not be spoken to a known face in the world where I grew up. Efforts to open up about the state were met with disappointment most of the time. The gradually encroaching silence became a reality, a reality that buried the thoughts in the silence.
When the silence became deafening, I started looking for the ‘why’ behind ‘what’ was happening. The answers varied depending on the mindsets. The only place where I found comfort and acceptance was an online platform where people were heard without judgment. After months of fighting the thought of not giving up, I could finally breathe. I later joined the same platform to help others and heal with them, for, by this time, I knew the scars are more profound than visible.
Listening to strangers, I would find the lost bits and pieces from my life somewhere within the conversations. Their stories would offer hope. By helping others heal, I was healing myself, breaking sometimes, sometimes getting back. However, the worst phase was yet to come when I got back to the place where it all started — home.
The Pandemic made it challenging to find an escape and speak much to anyone. I would breakdown over simple things, things that hurt me in the present but reminded me of the past. The fact that helplessness was on the surface was killing each day, bit by bit. The helplessness on the face of those who saw me every day was adding to the pain, for I knew I had probably lost the battle this time.
A New Beginning
“Most of life’s battles are won or lost in mind.” — Craig Groeschel.
The battle was lost in mind; it was. Falling back and losing the strength to get back up, I started looking for something stable to hold on to. Being a person who knows how to grow in a dynamic environment, stability was more of a need than a choice.
There was a day, though, a better one — a day when an idea emerged with some courage to try it. With a platform to try, the workshops came into existence, a space created to share, learn, and design a world less painful to live in.
However, the journey from this day to shaping In-mind was not easy. On the lookout for financial stability and because of the doubt, if I can still build something on my own, I signed up for a job. But within days, I knew I had left something behind. It felt like the workshops and the idea of growing it called me back to build a new path and walk on it.
I took a step back, only to move forward and not look back from there. Being a first-time entrepreneur, the decision was supported by only a few, but I was already a Founder in my head by then, designing a life different from what was given to me — for myself and others.
Founder, In-mind
For someone fascinated with social entrepreneurship but afraid of taking initiatives, being a Founder was a moment of pride and happiness. I was prepared for the challenges, ready to learn on this new journey and grow within while growing an idea of making the world a better place to live.
I would not say I started alone because, on every turn where I doubted myself, I had someone or the other to review the idea and help me keep going. In-mind came into existence because of the efforts and support of all those people who were ready to listen and more than sure that I could make it through.
Some people believe in In-mind, others are working every day to help it grow, but beyond those faces, we are a team bigger than that, maybe a family of a kind, every member doing its bit to help the idea grow beyond their lives.
“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep…”
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
Aiming to touch a hundred lives and beyond.
Founder, In-mind
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This article was edited by Atotmyr.