Work Away From Work.

As regular readers of this blog will have noticed I am passionate about what I do and also cooking. Sometimes working in mental health it becomes very hard to switch off at the end of the day. But that is where the cooking comes in. It is my de-stressor.

Many who I talk to are utterly fascinated by my working life but also think it is very dangerous. It is not really as I explain to most people that they are greater risk in a pub than they ever would be in my world. Where it gets tricky though is when I talk to people, they find out what I do and want me to sort their heads out. At times I feel I should run a clinic once a week in the pub although I suspect few could afford the rates I should charge.

A couple of months ago after a very long, intense and tiring I encountered just one of those scenarios. That was the last thing I needed on that particular night. But it happened anyway. A man I had never met before who by his own admission had had had a dubious past was almost in tears as he told me he had lost his business, his family, and his home. He told me his Doctor had advised him to take an anti depressant but men didn't do things like that. In my weariness I gave him my thoughts and left it up to him.

A couple of weeks later he had once again been in the pub and he told me he had started taking pills but they were not working. Once again I gave him thoughts and left it to him. With that I forgot all about it.

But last Thursday the past came back. Once again the man was in the pub. He asked if he could speak to me outside. When we got there he was overwhelming in his gratitude to me. He had taken my advice and was now doing really well. We talked about how the pills worked and that they would not take his past away from him but if they helped which they clearly were to do it.

When we finished talking and prepared to go back inside out of the cold he offered his hand. Then he said "no, that's not enough, I should hug you".

It is days like that that I feel I have achieved something. For me those days are fairly frequent but it is a greater pleasure to help a stranger who I knew was at risk of being let down just as I had been all those years ago.

Back in reality I have now completed the Kent sections of "Charon's Ferry". Great sense of achievement there too. Now for a quiet Saturday of Thai belly pork curry courtesy of Gordon Ramsey then the start of the NFL playoffs tonight. A good way to end my long holiday.

I Heard a Voice.