This festival has always brought me the vibes and a sense of togetherness which no other festival has. Since a week before Diwali, I’m all excited and busy. It’s like this festival is the one where you want everything to be royal. To be exactly the way it has to be.
It starts from cleaning to making snacks and sweets, decorations, the diyas and lightings and the main day where everyone is together.
But looking from the perspective of mental health, a celebration of festivals and especially Diwali affects one a lot. But how, you ask?
Diwali usually begins with cleaning. We take out stuff which hasn’t been touched for a long time, look back at the things we owned and the memories attached along with it, go back to our childhood or even last year and look back at how things were.
But more than that, we clean the furniture and rooms and remove things we no longer need. In this process, we not only clean our homes but also ourselves. Having things dusted up in one place or too many things in one place is like having too much stress together. Slowing removing them and wiping them clean is like relaxing ourselves and making ourselves having a feeling of newness all over.
We look back at last year or even years before that through the things we had and that gives us a chance to look back at ourselves and how we’ve grown from them. We remove the dust and cleanse our soul. We give away things we no longer need and lift ourselves up. Diwali cleaning is not just of homes but also for ourselves.
Also because we’re celebrating children’s day today, as a child (and even till date) I have fun in the soap water that cleans the rooms. I zoom past it, play in it and almost make myself believe that I’m rafting it in. What’s secondary is the fact that I always end up slipping and hurting myself in the process but hey, it’s worth it.
What comes next with Diwali is cooking. For a lot of people, cooking in itself is relaxing. But this festival gives shouts for sweets and snacks. Seeing the kitchen in a mess but having a result which is worth it. It’s a different kind of happiness to make so much for the celebration of happiness and sharing of love. What’s it that they say? Food is the way to one’s heart.
We also, decorate our homes. Like we like getting dressed up for occasions, it’s even more therapeutic to dress the house up. Having lightings all around and diyas lit up not only adds a positive vibe to our mental health but also makes us feel calm and gives us a sense of belonging. Diwali is a festival of lightings everything up and decorations make the meaning of lighting up both literal and metaphorical. Like lighting up our houses, we light ourselves up. It’s a place of being lifted up and feeling bright within oneself.
And lastly, is social bonding. How can we not talk about family when a family is all we got.
Diwali is when everyone comes together. To celebrate, to go about the festive proceedings and be with your family. Even if we don’t meet the family for years we come together on this day. And the best thing we need for our own mental health is the sense of belonging and a feeling of togetherness, love and bonding. Being with your family on a festive occasion full of celebration is a way of happiness in its own.
Diwali is not just about the festival but also about ourselves. Knowingly and unknowingly it takes us to a better place and makes us feel better than we have the entire year. And we don’t have to do anything to let that happen because the vibe itself give themselves away.
May you be lifted up, lighted up and feel loved. You’re a light in your own and a happy Diwali for yourself right there.
Happy Diwali!
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