May 24, 2018

REFLECTIONS ON MENTAL HEALTH WEEK

Thank you to everyone who used this past few weeks as an opportunity to get loud about mental health. Thank you to everyone who spoke out on social media. Thank you to everyone who had one of those courageous and quiet conversations with someone who means a lot to you. Thank you to everyone who had one of those brave conversations with a stranger. We are all in this together and a single voice can magnify the experience of thousands.

Let’s take a moment to acknowledge those that are still living in silence. Sometimes movements, and community initiatives can cause us stress. We feel like we must speak out because we know how it feels to struggle and there is this incredible platform and still, the words don't come. It is kind of like feeling awful on a beautiful day; the sun taunts you in a swarm of shoulds. You should be outside, you should be enjoying the sun, you should feel better, etc. This narrative can spin us into a self defeating spiral of frustration and pain. What if we stopped should-ing ourselves? What if we stopped feeling like we needed to do it all alone? This post reaches out to all those who are feeling bad about not speaking out for #MentalHealthWeek, or who have not spoken up yet. It is OKAY. Did you know that thousands and thousands of people did speak up for you? Did you know that you are the reason that people feel empowered to speak up? Did you know that you are not the only one? Did you know, that this feeling will not last forever? If yes, great, if no, great! We are all learning as we go along. You are not expected to feel better. You are not expected to even want to feel better. But we do hope that you keep holding on, that you keep listening, that you keep an open mind, an open heart and believe that better is possible. 

Until then, we are rooting for YOU. Let’s keep going.