30th October 2021 Day 10 The one where the employer shows their lack of understanding and I meet Elgar and friends......

 This morning I get up and dress feeling strangely positive. Even after a really bad nights sleep. I'm in the mood for getting up and getting on .... However by lunchtime all has been smashed to pieces and I'm brought crashing down to earth. Our post is delivered and amongst it is a letter for me that I know the content of before opening. Sure enough it's from my employer. Having already been advised of my regular contact with a manager who I implicitly trust and who is in full knowledge of my situation and is handling my absence with due professional care and consideration. Also having been advised by the aforementioned manager to leave me totally alone due to the fragile nature of the absence from work..... I have been sent the standard system generated letter which politely reminds me of when I went sick. And "invites” me to a Face to Face meeting at the office at a date in the very near future. And can I confirm my availability to attend.... Firstly anyone receiving such a letter would have to be naive beyond belief to actually take in the false sincerity of the communication. Then the fact that I'm already dealing with guilt at not being at work really doesn't need to be reinforced by telling me how long I've been off so far. Also of all the places I would feel vulnerable and threatened the office is currently number one. And by issuing this damaging communication to me it endangers the trust built up between myself and the only member of management I feel I can turn to. I have been categorically told I need make no contact with my office and they will not contact me. So far I've received two official letters in a week. Both only serve to tell me that the system does not yet exist that understands how to deal with Mental Health issues and their sometimes devastating effects on the individual..... The person trying to get their life back to some kind of normality does not need this level of crass souless intervention. A physical injury is nurtured back to full use by the recovery period including physiotherapy and patience. The mental injury is nurtured back to full use by compassion and empathy. Same result.. yes?.....


Anyhow the day progresses and we have a challenge ahead in more ways than one. After my carpark meltdown in Wolverhampton recently, tonight I am not only attending another event due to previously bought tickets but it's a flippin' classical music concert at Worcester cathedral by the English Symphony orchestra. It's a first for me folks..  And wow it blew me away. The Wreckers by Smythe. A few short peices by Vaughan Williams. And to finish Elgar's Enigma Variations . I'm left wanting more even though my next event is seeing Wayward Sons at KKs Steel Mill. I return home knowing I've had a day of huge contrasts but hope I can continue to mend. 


Please just be kind. And if you've not tried being kind or caring well it's never too late to start...

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