Small Town Strong

Lewellyn Melnyk was twelve in the 1980s, on a third generation grain farm in Manitoba, and struggling with something nobody in a small town had language for yet.She became a journalist, married, moved back to the farm, and kept adding to her plate without taking anything off it. The panic attacks arrived in her thirties. This conversation is about what she did next, and the book she wrote about it.What's Inside- What depression looked like for a kid in a rural community in the eighties, before anyone was talking about it- The habits of a workaholic and a people pleaser, and how long they held before they did not- What she means by building fences, and why a farm audience understands boundaries faster when they are explained that way- Exercise as something she does for her head rather than her weight, and what changes when that is the actual reason- Food, sleep and a nightly gratitude practice, described as maintenance rather than treatment- Why rural stories go untold, and why the women running farms alongside everything else are the ones most often missing from them- Her case that mental health in a small town is a collective job rather than a private one Connect with Lewellyn: Website: https://www.lewellynmelnyk.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lewellyn.melnykTwitter: https://twitter.com/lewellynmelnykInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lewellynmelnyk/ Connect with Growing the FutureWebsite: growingthefuture.caYouTube: Growing the FutureInstagram: @growingthefuturepodcastLinkedIn: Growing the FutureSubscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.