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There is no light without dark.

If you are reading this, you are someone I have met and wish to stay connected to. Therefore if you ever feel like you have no one to turn to, if you don’t want to speak to someone close to you because you feel ashamed of your mental state. Let me be the person you reach out to.
This is your permission, right here.

We all have light and dark.

I hope that you will never be too proud to admit you are suffering

I hope that you never feel so alone, that you won’t reach out

I pray that you’re never too proud to admit you are struggling
That you can find one person to speak your heart

I hope that the job you do, doesn’t make you set unrealistic standards for yourself that make you put on mask after mask, day after day, to keep up a pretence.

I hope that the lifestyle you follow, allows you to live and enjoy the good things in moderation, to support a healthy body and mind and to keep you in a community in this real world we live.

Every one is connected
But no one is connecting

It’s not all or nothing. We strive to be happily and healthy the best we can be. There’s no shame in that. Make your own rules. Forge your own path

But most of all, be real. Be more truthful and more open about the struggles that make you. Tell the world. Start one by one.

Because how when we know so many, we can still feel sooooo damn alone.

I hope you aren’t curating a false-public reality that’s isolating you from talking about your mental health.

Everyone is connected.
But no one is connecting.

Often, it takes one person to break the stigma.

These times have been especially tough. I have so much I am grateful for yet still I have felt sad and isolated and alone. Have you?
I feel guilty for feeling this way. Do you?

We are not alone. We should do everything to let those we care about know they are not alone. That in that dark time of need, you will understand and be there.

One conversation, a few moments of care could be the light in someone’s darkness.
Can we all start being that person that asks genuinely, “How are you, really?”

If you are having dark thoughts, can you promise me you’ll take me up on my offer, that you’ll drop me an SOS “I need a friend” and I will promise the same.

We all make mistakes. Nothing is too big to come back from.

Tell someone.
Find the light.
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Listen to someone.
Be the light.

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This was something I wanted to share on my social media after someone I knew took his own life in 2022. I wrote this, and never posted it. I felt it was melodramatic, I couldn’t share the context or my motivation and something just stopped me. It’s a lifeline message and I want to put it somewhere. So, I’ll leave it here, trusting the right eyes will find it.

Use it if it resonates, send it on to a friend.