Behind the Name

I drew this picture two weeks ago at a mental health hospital to embody what I had been feeling for so long on and off again.  I have always described my depression as that of drowning.  While everyone around me is breathing, I have nothing- no air, no breathe, no hope- or so I thought.  Yet, through the crashing waves of my depression, I have found time and time again that one things remains.  Hope.  Therefore, I refuse to let what I have drag me down.  I am more than my mental illnesses, for I am me- a person who is kind, accepting, and hopeful.  Whatever you are going through may lead you to feel like the world is against you and you are at odds, but I assure you that there are people out there just like you.  I am one of those people.  We need each other.  Jamie Tworkowski sums it up best by saying, “You’ll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips.  Airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else. You will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living breathing screaming invitation to believe better things.”  Some days we can hardly stay afloat, while others days it is a breeze.  I encourage you amidst everything that is going on that you will overcome, not just survive.  You will make it through and discover that life has beauty, even in its tragedies.  This blog serves as an open, accepting, and honest place to break down barriers and stigmas associated with mental health, create a space for conversation, and be able to engage in a community that refuses to sink.  I may only be 18 years old, but I envision big dreams which I thought could never be possible.  Now, I am taking on a new perspective and chasing after my dreams.  One day I will make my own global mental health awareness nonprofit.  Today marks the very beginning of this journey.  I hope you follow me along through this crazy journey and see where it takes us as we all wholeheartedly and assuredly refuse to sink.