I have not had a case of the Mondays in a month. In mental health, December is slow with less people coming to the office because of the holidays and vacations, so we wait patiently for life to pick back up and for people to return to their problems and seek out help. January is the toss up between slow and steady and everything everywhere all at once.

Today was a Monday that felt like 7 days all combined. Every client needed care or connections to care, and the job was one filled to the brim with time spent caring about people. I love my job, mainly because I get the opportunity to care about people and provide them a space to express themselves where the rest of the world has shut them out.

Now I would hate to discuss politics on my silly little blog about my life and what I am up to, but it feels like a disservice to my future self if I do not admit that the current political atmosphere has greatly contributed to the burnout and exhaustion of my life. All around me, I am hearing more destructive policies being executed in order to promote hate and prohibit good people from existing. I am fearful of the day ICE shows up at my office wanting to take any client or question me. I know I have legal rights and I have attended the trainings for what I am supposed to do. I have discussed at lengths with my colleagues the fears we all have. My heart hurts. Yet, January is almost over, and February is coming. February is where the chaos begins.

I only work in Mental Health. I do not have a law degree, contrary to what all of my clients want to believe. I am an associate counselor handed the tougher cases that require specialty mental health services and referrals to programs most people are unaware their counties provide. I am a gatekeeper and my job only gets harder when we put red tape over programs that were once able to provide safety and security. My gate leads to less and less options, and I am left with a case of the Mondays while other people are left with the fear that they may be held in prison camps and deported.

My case of the Mondays is draining, but it is not life or death. I get to go home from Monday to an apartment filled with belongings that bring me comfort, my dog that saved me, and my boyfriend who provides me with love and care. My Mondays are draining, but they are also fulfilling and validating.

I will always be grateful that I get to do the job that I do, and that I get to help people for a living. Some days are easier than Mondays and sometimes, Mondays are the easy days. Sometimes, Mondays are the Christmas Vacations of the week and sometimes, they are first week back in school. Today, Monday was 7 days long with only two cups of coffee and a lunch break.