My Mental Space

So this week I started a new job, at a car wash of all things, in the dead of winter when everyone’s trying to wash the salt and grime off their cars in the Midwest, and so far, it’s been going fine. I actually got out early today because of how nasty the cold is and how stacked we were when I went in for training this morning.

As my previous post suggested, I’m at Michigan Central just typing away on my keyboard and enjoying the quiet time. While I’m here, of course I’m thinking about what to write about, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t shared my academic research into places to learn at and what to learn at such places. I’ve had automotive repair in the forefront of my mind of course, but there’s one other I haven’t forgotten, and that’s being a mental health counselor/therapist. Me and my therapist got to talking about some of the details of that, and I need to go back and do some screenshots of our discussion as the idea still lingers in my head, mainly because I have an insightful, empathetic way about me, and one of the reasons I started this blog was to try and help out others who struggle with various mental impasses and questions, or just to make others thing about things in general. That being said, I’m going to see an academic advisor on Monday before I go to work to consider these avenues.

Having been thinking about such things and going to talk to advisors and counselors has been a part of the process of looking into going back to school again. I’ve visited Oakland Community College in the last week or so, I’ve seen two of their main campuses, and it’s gotten me further in the mindset that I can and need to do better for myself. I want to make time for bettering my life and earning more money in ways that benefit myself and others. One of my goals in life is to be able to make a difference in some folks’ lives, and in these cases, if I can repair their car properly and keep them safe or talk to them about trauma and difficulties they’ve had in life, I feel I’m doing a good job being a human being. As we’ve all seen these days, being one is a difficult task sometimes, what with all that’s going on. There are some great folks out there who are making a difference in the world though, and I want to help.

That said, I’ve been trying to decide when the time would be best for me to start such an endeavor. If I go with cars, I’m thinking the summer session would be a great time to start. Learning to be a therapist, on the other hand, is something I need to look into and consider with a bit more purpose, as it involves the mental nature of folks and considering their health above all else, and it takes a special sort of person to be able to handle such things. I have to know “I’m ready” before I delve into that field. There’s a certain fragility that comes with the task, both for the therapist and the one in therapy as well.

As someone who has a hard time making up his mind with decisions, this is definitely something I’ll need to discuss with John in our free time and see what he thinks about it. I know he supports me in what I do, and I know he’ll have insight on what to do.