Who are you?
My name is Melissa Gole. I’m a nurse, bellydancer, mum and now author of a book called Blue
Tell us about your book?
Blue is a book I wrote about a police dog.
It goes through signs and symptoms of depression, how to get help and healthy lifestyle options.
I’m donating all the royalties from blue to a charity called blue hope who are for police mental health and currently have a campaign to go nationally.
What inspired you to get started?
Someone who I later found out was an old work colleague died by suicide and 3 police officers – 2 in NSW and 1 in QLD also died by suicide in a very short period. People on the internet seemed angry. The attitude was take a tablet, call a line. I wanted people to know it was more then that, reading stories I wanted to get more education out about how we talk about mental illness, how we treat people with a mental illness and help people to know that there are healthy ways to look after yourself.
What is your main goal?
Create a positive conversation around mental illness, help more people to get support and raise money to increase services in police mental health support.
What has been your greatest achievement to date?
Writing the book and knowing that I’ve released this internationally. IT will be at Beijing book fair at the end of the month. It’s also going to be at book fairs in London, America, new mexico and Frankfurt. There also might be some there might be some other exciting things in the pipeline.
As a working mum how do you find calm in the chaos?
You run away from chaos and create calm
During the times when you feel overwhelmed or lacking in motivation, what helps you get back on track?
Finding people it connect with and talk it out with.
Who or what inspires you?
Stella Young. She lived with brittle bone syndrome but was a big advocate for treating people with a disability like anyone else but also creating accessibility.
What do you do to relax and unwind?
Meditate or listen to music.
What advice would you give your younger self?
It’s ok. But also walk away.
What is your life motto or positive affirmation?
Life is what you make it.
Have you ever had a disappointment or setback that ended up leading you to something wonderful?
Yes. I had my boss go off at me about my uniform which made me realise there were much more important things then my career, work and money and that’s spending time with family and having time for passion projects.
What do you like to do with your free time?
Go to the beach and watch the waves
To Contact Melissa Gole:
Website
Illustrations by Elenei Rae Pulido
“The Key for Me” will motivate and empower by supporting you to find the keys to set in motional goals and aspirations to help you make a better life for yourself.
Hi hv read your article about your mums diamond ring. Firstly I would contact you thru social media but I don’t hv any. So I apologise for doing it this way. I lost my mothers engagement ring and it is 65 years old. I think about it daily. Would you possibly be able to give me your clairvoyants phone number Kay zito