Carrots for your eyes. Spinach for iron for strength. And so many vegetables with the all-important fiber to feed the friendly bacteria in your gut.

But health isn’t only physical. What if I told you that vegetables are also good for your mental health? Let me share with you how.

First you have to ignore what you were taught as a child, namely to not play with your food.

Second, choose a carrot or zucchini and carve it into a whistle or flute or kazoo or anything else that ignites your imagination.

Then play away.

You can also use potatoes for percussion. Or how about putting some coffee beans into an old tin and create your own shaker to help you keep the beat?

Best of all, it is low cost, easy, ecologically sound and unlike buying a cello only to discover that you made a mistake and are stuck with a space-occupying object the size of a roommate, you can just cut up the veggie and put it into a soup if you decide this is not for you.

Give this a try and you will see that in addition to using your creativity, you just might have fun.

Creativity and fun are good for the psyche. One keeps you from stagnating and the other offers you uplifts to brighten your day. And creating a Vegetable Orchestra just might be what your life is missing for an all-important dose of fun.

Rx: Look around your house and see what objects you might be able to re-purpose into a musical instrument. It does not have to be fancy. It can be as simple as using a discarded oatmeal box to make a drum. Or how about liberating a carrot from salad duty and using it to make music?

You can draw inspiration from the following videos of Vegetable Orchestras. There were so many good ones that I had trouble choosing from among them, so I am sharing an international mix with you.

And please do let us know when you carve carrots etc., and film and upload your Vegetable Orchestra on YouTube so we can all like, share and applaud you.

To your health!

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From Austria - On Tour in the US

From England

From Italy - Lots of percussion!

From the United States - Notice their string instruments!!

Time travel back a few years to when a colleague of mine was having a rough day at work, thanks to toxic co-workers. We exchanged texts in which they shared their frustrations with me, and I responded with supportive texts along the lines of: “Hang in there. You got this! Remind yourself that this is temporary…”

My friend was having a really bad day and the usual words did not feel enough.

I was desperately trying for a way to make my friend feel better, and in that moment of need, the Muses offered me something more powerful.

I texted my friend: You don’t have to hold on to all that…Have a mental bowel movement.

Of course, I added laughter emojis in my text, which I am not sure how to do here in Substack. So you are going to have to use your imagination. Please add as many laughter emojis as you like; just as with with salt and pepper, it is up to your personal preference as to how many emojis you add.

Then towards the end of last year, I happened to text another friend about a frustrating situation I was experiencing and mentioned that maybe this is what I needed to do about a specific situation in my life: Have a mental BM. After all, I try to practice what I preach.

What followed next was pure literary genius. Well not quite Shakespeare, though it was sent from England. Or maybe it was more creative genius rather than literary genius. You can decide for yourself.

The text read: Potty That!

For a micro-moment, I drew a blank. Then I realized that the CGF (Creative Genius Friend) had just offered up a clever term that can be used in the service of mental health promotion!

Remember, you don’t have to hold on to all the bad things people say - whether to you or even when making statements at large. Think of people’s words like the food you chew and digest. Retain whatever is nutritious and serves your emotional needs. All else is insoluble fiber. Just move it along and let it out (in a healthy way of course…no explosive mental diarrhea…)

P.S.: The Science Behind This: When people are upset, they are not always able to work through things analytically. Using a metaphor helps make the process of emotion regulation more relatable. And the addition of a bit of humor can also help shift a person’s mood away from feeling frustrated and upset. Lastly, from a health literacy point of view, this is a metaphor that large numbers of people can relate to, and through that, be empowered to more effectively regulate their emotions.

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