May 4, 2023

Welcome back! This month is flying by. Hope everyone’s having a great week.

In today’s edition, I’m taking a little hiatus from sharing my own two cents and research, and letting someone else share their own story. This post piggybacks off of my previous one on suicide awareness with a clip I watched several months back that I just LOVE. In fairness, I’m an advocate for any poetry or media about mental health (as long as it isn’t damaging and doesn’t re-enforce negative stereotypes, of course). It takes guts to get up on a stage and lay your vulnerabilities and experiences bare for everyone to pass judgement on who you are, how you are, and what you stand for. To me, it means someone values sharing their journey with others above trying to control their image, how others view them, or judgements that might be passed. THAT is what mental health awareness is all about. THAT is personal power. We’re all human. And it’s OK not to be OK.

In the video, a poet – a gay black man dealing with life-long depression – recounts his experience with/journey through pain, loneliness, attempted suicide, acceptance, and recovery. Since I initially viewed this clip, I’ve come back several times and re-visited it to remind myself of how many people have a similar story. I won’t dilute it by adding too much more of my own commentary, but I’ll leave the link below. Feel free to post a comment and let me know your thoughts. I hope you enjoy.

Suicide Note: A Poet’s Journey Through Depression

Yours in wellness and health,

Laura