Kerry is the founder of the Sound of Silence Store, a place which shares mental health care packages for adults and children. In this blog, Kerry reflects on the work she does, what made her do this, and how you can get involved.
Who are you
My name is Kerry, and I am of Punjabi-Sikh background. I'm a strong advocate of bringing mental health to the forefront of people's minds and educating them on how they can build the confidence to navigate their way through the trials that life puts before them. I'm a mother, grandmother and by profession a holistic health practitioner and a yoga teacher but behind all of that, I am so much more – just as the people we interact with on a day-to-day basis are significantly more than what we see.
What is it that you are doing?
With mental health being paramount in our lives, I wanted to create something that could enable people to pause for a moment to recognise what they are going through and acknowledge that life can be a struggle, but there are moments where we need to reflect and give ourselves some self-love before we move forward. I created what I call mental-health care packages that aim to do exactly that.
Why are you doing this?
Having grown up experiencing mental health trauma most of my life – and living with anxiety and depression for years, I found myself having to self-educate on many aspects of mental health and the importance of it.
I was forced to leave my home in the mid-'80s due to family conflicts and disagreements and found myself attempting to navigate life. I was a young parent to three children and raised my family single-handedly whilst juggling various jobs and naturally, everything else that comes with life.
As I look back, I realise how challenging this was and am proud to say that my children are all successful in their own ways. I also realise that the one thing that did take a back seat throughout those years and sometimes even now is my own well-being. I often think how if I had someone or something that encouraged me to take a moment to just reflect and remind myself that the way that I felt mattered and counted – things might have been different for me mentally.
What is different about it?
The packages include a mixture of items home-crafted by myself from hand made soy scented candles, bath salts and other smaller items to self-help books filled with useful reminders and information to help people overcome the mental obstacles we sometimes have. It also includes some items that you might use once, others that you might use every single day – the beauty of the packages is that there is definitely something for everyone and the items featured will act as a reminder that not only does someone care about you to send you one of these, but that you also need to care for yourself. We view the packages as the first step in the journey of self-love that supports anxiety recovery, depression relief, PTSD awareness and suicide prevention and also offer packages for younger people who might be struggling.
What have people said?
The feedback we've had on the products so far has been nothing but positive. We strive to add a personal touch to all of the care packages we provide and at an affordable price – they act as a cost-effective way to show someone – or even yourself – that you matter.
How can people find out more?
If people want to know more about the products, they can visit the Etsy store online and we also have a dedicated Instagram page where we provide motivational posts and information for our followers and the online community.
We can also be contacted via email at soundofsilencestore@outlook.com
