Big Blue Table - Right here on the Forums!

[Sophie_M]

Hello to our wonderful forums community! 

We have decided to run an ongoing Big Blue Table thread ‘Forums Edition’ until the end of October! 🎉

What is a Big Blue Table? Big Blue Table is Beyond Blue's signature event held during October, Mental Health Month. Big Blue Table encourages people host a meal with their friends, family or colleagues while fighting the stigma that surrounds mental health.

So why are we running one here? The reason we are doing this is so people have an opportunity to connect with others and have the experience of sharing their thoughts and feelings over a meal, no matter where they are in Australia.

We know Mental Health Month can be a vulnerable time for many and believe this thread could be a safe space for people to be heard and learn from others’ experiences.

Our community champions will be here to support you along the way, and our moderation team will be around to answer any questions you may have, as well as to ensure the thread remains respectful and safe for everyone.

We encourage you to choose from the following questions to start a conversation:

• What do you do to look after your mental health?
• Are you comfortable sharing your feelings and emotions? If not, why?
• What are you passionate about, and why?
• Who would be your dream Big Blue Table guest, and why?
  

After you have shared your answers, we would love to hear about what you are eating or bringing to the table. You can even tell us a little bit about your setup and what you can see around you to really immerse us into your world. This is your opportunity to be as creative as you’d like! But remember, there is no pressure or ‘right’ response, whatever you bring to the table will be more than enough. 

💙

We hope this thread allows you to feel connected, supported, and a part of the Big Blue Table initiative. Now… get cooking! 

[Ggrand]

Welcome everybody to my Big Blue Table……🤗..

I have set up my big blue table under a very special tree….away from the business of everyday chaos…..with a view of a lovely waterfall which cascades down into a river where ducks have made their home…

I brought along some cakes, biscuits, sandwiches, pizzas, sausages rolls and party pies…and have gently asked if your up to it, to bring a plate of food to add to it…..no pressure to bring anything though….drinks are coffee, tea, and anything your beautiful self desires to drink….Let’s just enjoy everyone’s company….

If I was doing this BBT (big blue table) in real life…I wouldn’t be able to…as much as I would like to, I can’t talk in front of people, I mean, I know what I want to say in my mind, but my brain refuses me to do that,  I don’t know why but I feel very vulnerable and too scared I’ll say something wrong…I am more of a listener then a talker….but give me anonymity a keypad I can talk without those feelings…

Lets get this BBT off and running…two topics of conversation suggested was about our passions…and what do you do to look after your mental health, These 2 go hand in hand for me….my passion is my go to, to help with my mental health…..I’m passionate about nature and the beautiful creatures that live in our universe, trees are especially meaningful for me…no tree is ever alike they are unique each one of them….I have a gumtree opposite my home…it’s huge, early morning, the birds that come to visit the tree gives me and the world a beautiful orchestral sound of bird songs….if you look towards the sky, you’ll see that I (magically) transported my gum tree to this very park and we are all sitting under it…amazing isn’t it…..sitting/laying under a tree, just looking up towards the blueness of the sky, the green leaves gently dancing with the soft breeze, the choir of different birds…all help me to ground myself into a better head space…..Thats why I decided that my BBT will be somewhere,  that I hope, helps everyone that’s joining in, to have a peaceful experience…

Take your time, as much time as you need to talk, eat and drink…. be kind to everyone because…kindness doesn’t cost anything, but it’s the most priceless gift you can give anyone…

Hugs, love and care everyone..🤗🩷🦋🌈..

Grandy..

[Fiatlux]

Hi everyone,

Before I forget, I would love to invite all the lovely people who have helped me and interact with when I need a shoulder to lean on.

It would be an honour to have James Elder from UNICEF at my table. He seems like a beautiful compassionate person. 

When I decide on a menu, I will post some more shortly.

Grandy, I would love to be on you table.

[indigo22]

Hi everyone,

My BBT would consist of a candlelight meal with soft music playing, laughter and tears, compassion for all at the table and a safe place for honest conversations.

What I currently do to assist with my mental health is read mental health and spiritually based non fiction books, I find they help me to understand my reactions better. I do not listen to or read the news, as I know that this is detrimental to my wellbeing. I see a psych one a month and work through things from the past that are still effecting me either through talk therapy or tapping (EFT).

For me, this is the perfect setting as I have been isolating for many years. However. I have recently been getting out into the garden to do some long overdue weeding and cutting back of bushes that have gone berserk. Nature is one of the best ways to help the mind, body and spirit heal.

When covid came along I made a choice to become vegan, and have kept to this ever since. One of my favorite things to eat is a bowl of steamed vegies (potato, pumpkin, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, carrot etc.) topped with a big dollop of hummus. That's what I am bringing to the table, what will you bring?

All are welcome, vegan or not, everyone has the right to choose what is right for them without judgement.

indigo 💜

[Eagle Ray]

Hello Everyone 🤗

In terms of what I do to look after my mental health, I go out into nature regularly which always has a balancing effect for me and I can feel my nervous system calm down there. I also try to maintain contact with good people I feel safe with. I have realised connection is everything and I need those two things - nature and meaningful connections with people - to be well.

I am like Grandy, I find it very hard to speak in front of people and don't reveal much about my emotions and life to others in everyday life. I know this is because I was taught early that expressing needs and emotions was met with punishment and judgement and wasn't safe. So I became very quiet as a child and kind of stayed that way. It's different here on an anonymous forum where I feel much more able to express feelings and emotions.

I am passionate about photography which I love in all its forms and never get tired of doing it. I love going out and taking images through to processing them afterwards. My first loves are landscape and wildlife photography, but I also love street and urban photography, architectural photography, basically everything! I would love to do underwater photography and aerial photography as well!

My dream BBT guest I think would be Peter Levine who developed the Somatic Experiencing trauma treatment method. His approach has helped me more than any other. I recently read his autobiography and the impacts of child trauma on him were very similar to how I was impacted, so it makes sense I was drawn to his approach which understands the world in a way that really resonates with me.

I love the sound of Grandy's BBT table near the waterfall with ducks (I love waterfalls and ducks) and I also love the sound of indigo's BBT table with candlelight, soft music and warm communication with laughter, tears and compassion. So I have merged those two things in my imagination. And I look forward to hearing of your menu offerings too Fiatlux which I am sure will be delicious. I have always loved Lebanese food and I've brought some lovely, fresh tabouleh salad and yummy baclava for dessert 😋

[Eagle Ray]

P.S. Sorry that was meant to be spelt baklava, not baclava. People may read that as balaclava which won't be very tasty to eat!

[indigo22]

I love Baklava too 💞

[quirkywords]

Grandy what a lovely post and description of your table. I have sort of street library where people take books from outside my house where I display my books. It is a place where people come to can’t take books. It is calm and friendly. I am known as the book person of my street, 

[sbella02]

Hi everyone! Lovely to read through this thread, and also to read through the yummy things everyone is bringing to their table. I'll add my own plate - strawberries, blueberries, grapes, dates, and a variety of other fruits.

Here are my own answers:

I do a range of things with regards to my mental health. I have a beautiful group of friends and family who I love spending time with. I journal whenever I'm feeling upset or angry, and I also write music and sing. I try to focus on healthy expressions of my more difficult emotions.

I think I'm relatively comfortable sharing my feelings and emotions, but it is context dependent. It's more that I'm comfortable expressing when I'm not doing okay, as I know my friends and family will respond in a supportive and caring way.

I'm passionate about music, psychology, writing, painting, empowering people... lots of things. 

I have a few dream guests, Michelle Obama is definitely up there - I've always viewed her as a very inspirational and empowering figure in the media who seems intelligent, down-to-earth, and confident. I think I'd find a lot to learn from her.

[mmMekitty]

Fantastic idea for a thread, Sophie_M. Sorry I' wasnt' around in October to catch this one when it was timely, but I trust it's never too late! (At least my cherry in cherry juice Jelly keep well.)

I struggle with maintaining any sort of passion, even for things I've enjoyed a lot. Lately I've been doing my best to keep up an interest in finding & listening, singing & dancing to music from a particular website. I've already chosen a bunch of Xmas songs. Now I'm going through & selectin g many songs from The Beatles. It jogs the memory, & I feel a happy nostaligia. I'm also finding songs I don't remember hearing or maybe I've really forgotten half the songs I had heard so long ago when my family had several albums, which we listened to often. & I'd sung many of the songs, too.

I do struggle with talking openly to most people about the state of my mental health, I'm nervous about the person I'm talking to wanting to know more detail about my past than I'm comfortable with revealing. I'm nervous about the reaction I'll get, too. It has not helped that recently, someone I had thought would have had more understanding & compassion, didn't. I felt an urge to, on one hand, defend right to my own perspective & thinking I have some sort of responsibility to explain how it was that I had no control over how others have treated me, & how my immaturity & efforts to protect myself led directly to my current, less than optimal, mental health state.  & this was not even a family member. I feel so inhibited about opening up to anyone except my Psychiatrist just now.

I just thought, having seen her recently on tele, I'd love to invite Courtiney Act, an icon of the LGBTQIA+ community (& beyond), an intelligent, vivacious person who could be a role-model to us all, of someone who has made a conscious choice to live with personal integrity & it seems to me, nothing is going to hold her down!

Oh, I nearly forgot... what I do for my mental health... mostly it seems to be comeing down to some very basic things, things which also benefit my physical well-being. I know I'm not doing everything I understand would be in my own best interest to do, but for now, getting myself into a better physical shape, by eating better, getting exercise, & including more social sorts of activities into my life are what I'm focusing on. 

I hope this Big Blue Table is always available here, all yer round, for us all to chat & explore our thoughts & feelings together. For me, writing has, for a long time, been how I have started the conversations I want to have with others. First, I write to get my mind organised & to put some thoughts out there, in my computer, maybe only to myself, but also, here, to this community, in preparation, & to begin to feel brave enough to speak aloud - still so afraid to speak my own mind.

I'm afraid stigma still exists out there. We may even carry some internalised stigma ourselves,

Now, that's something to chew on, eh?

Hugzies,

mmMekitty