What a last few years it has been for everybody on the planet!
Time flies, but it was just a few years ago when the world shut down in early 2020 as we all faced the unknown and grim new realities of a new virus called COVID. And while the pandemic era of COVID is fortunately now in our collective rear view mirror, the world constantly brings us challenges in the news across the global stage and at home.
The news is important, but it’s often very hard to watch — that reality is a juggle for all of us. And while that global stage is no doubt complex and vast, we all tangibly live out our lives in our own immediate local circles — with our families, children, spouses or significant others, siblings, parents, grandparents, relatives, roommates, friends, classmates, co-workers, teachers, and fellow community members. Life can be wonderful, but we all know it can be overwhelming too.
My now-retired kindergarten teacher mom has often reminded me that everybody’s usually got some sort of battle that they’re fighting internally. Or if they don’t, it may be right around the corner. Life’s a constant juggle for all of us to keep things on a positive track, deal with the unexpected, and take care of ourselves, the important others around us, and our communities too.
Mental Health Awareness Month
The mental health and wellness community was visionary enough to create Mental Health Awareness Month, which takes place every May. Mental health getting its own month to be part of our annual cadence helps bring up critically important topics and conversations about how we are all doing in our minds and hearts, and with those internal battles we may be fighting.
If there is one key to staying mentally healthy, it is to not keep it all inside—talk to a family member, a grandparent, a close friend, a counselor or therapist, or someone at your place of worship. Ask for help when you need it, and realize you don’t have to fight your battles alone in silence, in dread, or in pain. Reading this, do you need help? Don’t delay and act on that need. Be brave, even if it feels like you can’t. Know someone struggling, or do you think they might be? Do your best to help, or get them help.
So why does a privacy booth company write about mental health?
Well, it’s a vitally important topic for everyone, and we want to do our part to encourage dialogue around it and build community awareness this May.
And fundamental to TalkBox as a leader in the privacy booth category, our products enable people to do what our name says: Talk. And that means all the reasons that people may be talking in our booths: work, presentations, collaborations, HR, telehealth, education, giving or hearing presentations, podcasting, legal reasons, friendships, family, joy, grief, an unexpected crisis, or just getting things done in a good way, and on and on. Our booths are a place to call your boss or co-worker, your mom, your spouse, your child, your child’s teacher, your doctor, your therapist, your financial planner or attorney, or your good friend, and so forth. TalkBoxes provide the right private spaces for those calls.
And we also know that sometimes TalkBoxes are used when it's time not to talk — for working quietly, to focus, read, or meditate, or as a place to escape a bit to think or to take a deep breath. Or, take a quick nap in one of our larger booths. Ten-minute naps can do wonders.
So in the spirit of Mental Health Awareness Month, we are gratified that TalkBoxes help keep people happy and well, enable them to have the kind of conversations that help make jobs and lives work better, and succeed in fighting those battles we all face in life. And to our customers who use TalkBoxes and buy them for their teams, companies, organizations, non-profits, universities, hospitals, and more: thank you not just for your business, but also for enabling better mental health and wellness for your teams — within the important spaces that our booths provide.
Keep Talking out there!
Ross Shell
CEO, TalkBox
