What a summer of travel, an unexpected emotional low, and a simple blood test taught me about listening to my body
By: Dr. Aminah Knight
My children and I had a summer to remember. In the summer of 2024, we decided we were going to travel all summer long; with my husband’s blessing, of course.
My husband was completing his master’s in chaplaincy at the time. Between schoolwork, work, and traveling out of state for seminars, his summer was going to be incredibly busy. So I thought, This might be the perfect opportunity. The kids and I could pack up and do some of the traveling I had been daydreaming about all school year.
And we didn’t even wait a day. On the last day of school, we packed our bags and headed to Trinidad and Tobago; the country where my father and his family were born and raised.
A Summer That Felt Like Coming Home
That year marked the 50th anniversary of my father’s elementary school class. And when I tell you these people are close, I mean close. My dad is still in touch with friends he went to elementary school with in Tobago all those years ago.
My children and I met him there, and we had the best time. The kids fell so completely in love with Trinidad and Tobago that they basically decided they were Trinidadian now and would be abandoning their American roots. Just kidding. Kind of.
Months later, back in the States, their school held a Culture Day. My children asked me to buy them huge Trinidad and Tobago flags, which they proudly tied around themselves like capes and wore through the school. That’s how much the experience stayed with them.
After spending several weeks in Trinidad, we came home. But we barely unpacked. We refreshed our suitcases, swapped out a few things, and took off again; this time for Senegal.
My oldest sister and her husband have made Senegal a second home, and we went to spend time with them and their family. To say I had the time of my life in Senegal would be an understatement. I felt like I found a part of myself there.
Life in Its Purest Form
There was something about the way we lived there that felt so natural. So peaceful. So whole.
We visited with people constantly. We ate together. We prayed together. We walked together. Every meal felt communal.
My sister has eight children, and I have six, so you can imagine the house. Children everywhere. Running. Playing. Laughing. And adults everywhere, too—watching them, caring for them, talking, cooking, praying, and simply being together.
There was something beautiful about living surrounded by people. I remember feeling deeply sad when it was time to leave.
Of course, I was excited to reunite with my husband. I had missed him tremendously. But at the same time, I felt this genuine grief about leaving my sister and leaving that communal way of life.
Back home in Texas, I don’t have family nearby in that same way. I have friends who have absolutely become family, and I love them dearly. But there can be something unique about blood ties.
And yes, I know family relationships can be complicated. Sometimes very complicated. But when those relationships are healthy, there can be a depth to them that is difficult to reproduce.
I thought that was what I was missing. And maybe part of it was. But it wasn’t the whole story.
Why Am I So Tired?
A few weeks after coming home, I noticed that I was still exhausted. At first I blamed jet lag. Reasonable enough. We had been traveling across continents all summer.
But then a few weeks became a few months. And I was still tired. Not regular I’ve had a long day tired. I mean I wanted to stay in bed. All. The. Time.
And because I had just left this lifestyle in Senegal that I had fallen in love with, I started wondering whether I was experiencing some kind of emotional crash. I missed that natural, communal lifestyle so deeply, but I couldn’t quite articulate what I was feeling.
Eventually, I called my dad. My dad has pretty much been my emotional support person and sounding board since the day I was born, so I told him: I think I have functional depression.
But then I said something else. The strange thing is, I don’t know what I’m depressed about.
Nothing was immediately wrong. I had my family. I had my work. I had things I loved and things I was grateful for. So why did I feel like I wanted to stay in bed all day?
I talked to my dad. I talked to my husband. I talked to my sisters. We worked through my feelings, and there absolutely were emotional things I was processing—especially the longing I felt for the way we had lived that summer.
But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that there might be something else going on. Maybe this wasn’t only emotional. Maybe something was physically wrong.
“Just Test Me for Everything.”
Finally, I went to the doctor. And I basically said: I know something is wrong with me. I don’t know what it is, but take my blood and test me for everything.
A few days later, my results came back. I was severely anemic. My iron was low, and my iron stores were depleted. I was also significantly deficient in vitamin D.
And suddenly so much of what I had been experiencing made sense. I remember thinking: Wow. Maybe I’m not depressed. Maybe I’m deficient.
Now, let me make something very clear. I am absolutely not saying depression isn’t real. I am not saying someone experiencing depression should simply take a multivitamin and everything will magically disappear. Mental health deserves to be taken seriously. But physical health deserves to be investigated too.
Because the body and mind aren’t operating in two separate universes. Iron deficiency and vitamin D deficiency can be associated with symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, difficulty concentrating, and changes in mood. And if your body is depleted of nutrients it needs to function properly, of course you may not feel like yourself.
In my case, I had been trying to emotionally explain something that also had a very real physical component.
I Started Feeling Like Myself Again
Once I began addressing the deficiencies my doctor found, the difference was incredible. My energy started coming back. I felt more alert. I felt more motivated. I started feeling like me again.
It almost felt like someone had switched the lights back on. My doctor explained it to me very simply: my body was missing things it needed to produce and maintain energy. No wonder I wanted to stay in bed all day.
And that experience changed the way I think about wellness. Sometimes something is emotional. Sometimes something is physical. And sometimes it is both.
We are whole people. Our sleep affects our mood. Our stress affects our bodies. Our nutrition affects our energy. Our relationships affect our mental health. Our environment affects how we feel.
Everything is connected.
Listen When Your Body Whispers
Even now, I occasionally catch myself feeling unusually sluggish. And I’ll admit it: I’m not always the world’s most consistent vitamin taker. But now I have a reference point.
Instead of immediately assuming that something is emotionally wrong with me, I think about the whole picture. Have I been sleeping? Have I been eating well? Have I been taking care of myself? Have I been taking the supplements my doctor recommended? Do I need to make an appointment and have my levels checked again?
That summer taught me many things. Trinidad reminded my children where part of their story began. Senegal reminded me how much human beings need community. And coming home taught me something equally important: Listen to your body.
If you are experiencing persistent fatigue, weakness, changes in your mood, trouble concentrating, or you simply don’t feel like yourself, don’t automatically assume you know why. Talk to someone you trust. Pay attention to your emotional health. And consider talking with your healthcare provider, too.
Sometimes our bodies are trying to tell us something long before we understand what they’re saying.
For me, getting that bloodwork done made a world of difference. Because sometimes you’re emotionally exhausted. Sometimes you’re physically depleted. Sometimes you’re homesick for a beautiful life you briefly experienced on the other side of the world.
And sometimes, as I discovered, you really do just need to find out what’s going on inside your body.
Wellness means paying attention to all of it.