Breaking Down the Stigma Wall

Mental illness is something that has been ignored for way too long. It's something that people feel ashamed to talk about because there is this stigma that surrounds it. All of a sudden people are being told that it's not ok to be feeling the way that they're feeling. That it's some how wrong. That they're choosing to feel that way.

Many people go day by day not speaking up about how they are feeling for the above reasons. Someone may ask them how they're feeling and they'll say "fine" and we go on accepting that response and move on instead of asking if they really are "fine".

In 2003 I learned that accepting "fine" as a response isn't good enough. I will admit, however, that I sometimes still accept "fine" as a response and wish that I wouldn't. This is why.

My friend Kieran wrote a very touching and inspirational blog that deserves to be seen by the world. The blog talks about his personal struggles with mental illness and how he found the strength to reach out to someone for help in what could have been his final moments. Not many people are able to find that strength. 

I don't know what my life would be like without Kieran in it. He is such a fun-loving, energetic, humorous guy that I couldn't be luckier to know. People struggling with mental illness tend to think that no one would miss them if they were gone. I can tell you his funeral is one I would not want to go to any time soon. This world would be a much sadder place without him. 

I had my own personal experience with depression when I was younger. It's not something I talk about often. It's still something I struggle with from time to time, though I feel after eight, almost nine years that I have better control over it. I still remember that night, holding the knife in my hand, I didn't think my life was worth it. I thought about my parents and how they would feel. I honestly don't know where I would be had it not been for my dog coming up to me at that very moment and nestling his head against my leg. My dog saved my life that night. It was enough for me to say something to my mom and seek out help. 

Once I found my strength in accepting the way I was feeling wasn't wrong and that I wasn't alone, I wanted to make sure that anyone feeling the way I was never feels alone.

Music has always been something to help me through the tougher times.

So I ask you to Take A Moment everyday to ask someone how they are doing. That simple concern can save someones life.

Any Publicity is Good Publicity

Any publicity is good publicity, it's a adage everyone has heard when it comes to celebrities. If they're making the news, and people are talking about them, they must be doing something right. for the second people stop taking about them, everyone forgets who they are.

Now what celebrity wants that? They chose the "Lime Light" to be seen, but at what costs?

On January 23, 2014, Canadian pop singer Justine Bieber was arrested in Miami and charged with a DUI and resisting arrest.

What is going on with our young stars? Are they getting into the "business" too early in life that they forget there are consequences to their actions. They are not immune to life, plain and simple. 

So I ask you this, how is this good publicity? Think about the fans who consider Justin Bieber to be a role model. How is this a positive example of what to aspire too. It's almost like young celebrities need a person with them 24/7 to act as their conscience until they can make appropriate decisions for themselves.

So Take A Moment to ask yourself is any publicity good publicity? 

Making Choices

Life is full of choices. We can never be sure if we are making the right ones. What may seem right could easily turn out to be wrong and what seems wrong can turn out to be right.

There is no sure way of knowing. It's just a matter of making a choice. Making choices allows us to live our lives with no regrets.

Ok yes people have regrets for choices they have made. But it's those choices that have made us into who we are today. We took a chance on something or someone instead of letting ourselves wonder What If?

So don't be afraid to make the choice that scares you. Make the choice for you and not because somebody told you to. Take A Moment to make choices for you so that you can live your life and say that you lived it your way.

Giving Back The Voice

I had the most beneficial work placement back in December that I could have ever asked for. I spent three weeks interning at Macdonald Youth Services (MYS). They work hard to give youth a better life and to help prepare them for the "real" world and the harsh realities that come with it.

I enjoyed my time with them so much that I am continuing to volunteer with them. The youth that MYS helps are people that have had their voice taken from them because society has written them off. I want to help MYS give these youth their voice back. Everyone has something to say, it's a matter of getting people to listen.

Through MYS I will be working with their program coordinators to be able to tell the youth's stories. You can find these stories on the MYS website coming in February.

I hope that everyone will Take A Moment to read these stories as they deserve to be heard.