Personal Essay – Prolific Pulse Blog

Today, October 10, 2026, is World Mental Health Day, and this year’s theme is “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change.” Below are some questions to reflect on and simple activities to help families, friends and groups listen to one another.

What Is World Mental Health Day?

World Mental Health Day was first observed in 1992 at the initiative of Richard Hunter, then Deputy Secretary General of the World Federation for Mental Health. It is marked every year on October 10, with a new theme each year to focus attention on a different part of mental health.

The 2026 Theme: “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”

How does this year’s theme affect you and me? I believe it is about all of us, and our personal need to stay mentally healthy or to find the path to get there. People who have lived through mental health challenges know things that no textbook can teach, and when their voices are truly heard, real change follows.

Mental health is a personal and a long-lasting concern with people I have cared for and about for much of my life. As a social worker and advocate for mental health I believe that lack of services, accessibility to services, and the stigma associated with mental health are major factors. If we don’t address these, we risk more distancing leading to poor care.

5 Questions to Reflect On

1. Do you recall a time when you felt truly understood? What did the other person do that fostered this feeling? Often it is simple things, like listening without interrupting or not rushing to fix the problem.

2. What unique insights do clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience each hold that others might miss? Each group sees mental health from a different angle, and the best care brings all three together.

3. How has openness from public figures shifted attitudes about mental health? Think of social influencers, celebrities, athletes and others in all areas of life who have spoken honestly about their struggles.

4. What risks do people take when they share their stories, and how can we protect them? For example, workplace environments and attitudes, stigma about mental health, and the pain of reliving difficult experiences.

5. What changes have you seen that made a real difference? If you have heard stories from others or experienced improvements yourself, such as legal changes, funding or better access to services, what made those changes possible? What factors played into them?

Activities for Putting Mental Health into Practice

1. The two-minute listening circle

In a family, circle of friends, church group, or simply around a table over nachos, each person has two uninterrupted minutes to share. Listeners respond to what they heard before anyone offers ideas or advice.

2. Redesign a local service

Pick a real service, such as a school counseling program, and redesign one feature with people who have experienced or observed its gaps. Perhaps there are accessibility issues in your community that the group can help resolve. Factors to consider include stigma, language barriers and cost.

3. Rethink everyday language

Recognize slang terms related to mental health and discuss how they shape perceptions of people with lived experience. What are some better expressions to use instead?

4. Share one helpful habit

Have each person name one thing that helps when talking with someone who has lived experience, such as asking open questions, being patient with silence, or simply saying “thank you for telling me.”

Frequently Asked Questions

When is World Mental Health Day?

World Mental Health Day is observed every year on October 10.

What is the World Mental Health Day 2026 theme?

The 2026 theme is “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change,” announced by the World Federation for Mental Health.

Who started World Mental Health Day?

World Mental Health Day was started in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health, at the initiative of its Deputy Secretary General, Richard Hunter.

Where to Find Help

Always and forever, please know that there is help.

In the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.
Outside the U.S., see Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World from Psychology Today.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call your local emergency number.

Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld is a never-retired social worker who is currently an artist, writer, and publisher in Raleigh, North Caroline.

non-fiction, Personal Essay, poetry, Senior Health

World Cancer Day – February 4, 2026

February 3, 2026 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

As we enter World Cancer Day, how I wish this were a topic that we could just sweep under the carpet. Unfortunately, when faced with cancer, it’s unavoidable. It will not bring out a Pollyanna in me. It has had too strong an effect on my family and friends.

Therefore, pausing for thought for one full day becomes significant. What has cancer done to change our lives? What losses have we experienced? Is there any year that passes without your considering cancer as a potential cause for an ill feeling?

Cancer is sneaky. It worms its way into the body without invitation. I mean, last time I checked, I don’t recall asking it to visit my family members, yet here it came and did not want to leave. My sister had lung cancer. She had not smoked for years, realizing it was not serving her a purpose more important than life. Hearing she possessed this was unexpected.

Yes, it responded to treatment, including partial lung removal, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Despite all she went through, she had a positive demeanor, believing in believing. Technically, the treatment cured her. Her doctor told her it would be something else that would take her, not cancer. She could travel to Alaska from our home in North Carolina and spend time with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. For this, I am grateful. And I cherish the time we had together before she moved to Alaska. She ended up with a few short years before she passed away. Her heart had spent enough time on earth.

Has cancer affected you? What is your story?

As a caregiver for more than one cancer patient, I wrote this poem, based on personal experience.

Hearts to Hands

As you lay in the hospital bed I was lost.

You were jaundiced, dying, and needing care.

You looked into my eyes:

“my feet are cold”

Gently placing my hands on your feet,

feeling the thin parchment like skin,

and observing the golden glow of jaundice.

Mixing Vaseline with hospital lotion,

then warming the mixture in my hands.

Massaging your soles, arches,

and rounding to the dorsum

such warm flows, energy exchanges.

Stretching each toe, kneading the pads, some pop.

Our smiling eyes connect as softness pervades.

Warming your fuzzy slippers on the heater,

scrunching and easing them on your warm, softened feet.

Just standing with hands on your covered feet,

having a private moment,

energy pouring from my hands and exchanging hearts.

How I wish that moment would heal you.

Even if a new day meant another treatment.

Each day is the chance to show you how much I love you.

I do and you love me too.

Words did not have to be said.

I knew it when you looked at me and said,

“my feet are cold.”

Previously published in Fine Lines Literary Journal

The Cardinal is a sign of hope and love from beyond. This picture was drawn by Kayla Wygal and included in the coloring pages of Caring for Souls.

As depicted in this video, cancer is life “the thief in the night.” I would encourage you to view this and reflect.

Announcements, Personal Essay, poetry, social justice, writing

The Talk is Released and MORE to Come – Let’s Revisit this Discussion

March 17, 2023March 17, 2023 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

This is The Talk and .it is now OUT!

The Talk is available on Lulu.com and other online retailers.

November 2022 I posted about The Talk.

This project is of vital importance and I am so grateful for the brave souls who came forward to tell their stories through essays and poetry. There is a strong representation with these author’s words.

On April 12, 2023 at 7 p.m. we are going to have a Book Launch for The Talk. You are invited to attend, to particpate as we continue the discussion behind the talk, the walk, the way of life, the way to survive that people of color have to deal with every day of their lives.

You can register by signing up with the EventBrite link. Then you will get a zoom link on the day of the launch so you can participate in this virtual event.

Announcements, garden of neuro, non-fiction, Personal Essay, poetry, Poets & Events, writing

Open Mic – What do you tell your children & others when they leave your home? There’s more…

November 29, 2022 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Photo by Agung Pandit Wiguna on Pexels.com

Announcements, art, call for submissions, Personal Essay, poetry, writing

Dear Heart – Call for Submissions

July 11, 2022 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Years ago, before computers, we wrote letters. My mother’s letters were like little novellas. They sometimes were several pages long. She wrote her family members and friends and they loved to get her “books.” How I wish I had saved my letters from mom. As a witness to her letter writing, I would watch as her pen moved passionately across the pages, sometimes witnessing her eyes well up. Letters were her release. They were her way of expressing herself in ways she could not voice. Sometimes she would write letters to people out of anger and then tear them up. To my knowledge, she never sent one of those angry letters. It could have been politicians, relatives, and those are the ones I knew about. She would express her heart’s desire, open up her soul, and pour out her thoughts.

As a letter writer, I did not have the beautiful penmanship of my mother, but I learned that the pen was my power. I also wrote letters and tore them up. I even wrote one about the need for a doctor in our little town and it was published in the newspaper. I wrote letters to family, friends, old friends found from a long time lost, family who I wanted to see but knew my letters would reach them long before I ever would.

Now, I am a writer and a poet. I write as if my words are letters to the world, at times. Other times, I write to express my desires of the heart. And other times I write to write.

I firmly believe that when we do express our desires within our heart that this has a way of stirring up thoughts and even action plans to make things happen. Sometimes those things that happen are acceptances of things that can’t be changed, but sometimes they are steps to taking up the courage to make something happen in our lives.

What is the desire in your heart? This is my challenge to you. I would like to read about the desires in your heart in the “Dear Heart” anthology of letters, poetry, art, photography, and whatever ways helps you express your passion.

There’s a caveat to this. These are all to be sent to me via good old fashioned snail mail. I will sort through these and select which submissions to publish.

Please drop me an email to prolificpulse@gmail.com for the specific call for submissions.