How Project Semicolon changed my life
Project Semicolon day is April 16th
It was the summer of 2015. I was turning and was determined to make it my best year yet! So I put my best fake smile on, spoke about my confidence, & took my meds like a good girl.
But inside I was anything but confident. I was still struggling with the hand I was dealt. I didn't understand why I had to have anxiety when everyone around me seemed to have it all together. I was embarrassed that I couldn't have a drink with a friend at dinner because I have to take anxiety medication. I was ashamed that I couldn't fight this fight on my own. But I kept it all inside.
And then I heard about something called Project Semicolon... It was a true game changer for me. I read about the founder Amy Bleuel who had started the project just two years prior after a life full of hardships and tragedies. She wanted to support those that were dealing with depression, anxiety, self harm, suicide, & addiction. She chose the semicolon because in a story an author could chose to end their sentence but instead uses a semicolon to continue their story. She wanted people to see themselves as the author and the sentence as their life.
I instantly fell in love with the story. I was blown away by Amy's strength to be so open with her struggle and to work so hard to help others in spite of still having demons of her own she was fighting. But more than anything I loved the solidarity it was creating between people dealing with mental illness or the loss of someone with a mental illness. Finally, I was seeing photos of people all over the world proudly wearing their badge of courage aka their semicolon. People were wearing it on t-shirts, writing it on their wrist, and even getting it tattooed to their bodies. But no matter how they showed their badge, they shared it. And shared it. And shared it. It was almost as if there was a unity between strangers going through the same struggles.
I was blown away that these people were so brave to tell the world up front that "hey I have something I'm struggling with-but that's OKAY!"... It was as if someone hit me upside the head and yelled "Wake the hell up Katie!"
And I did. Finally. I decided right then and there that summer that I would no longer hide any part of my journey and struggles with anxiety and depression. I would speak openly about both and try to encourage others to...
I celebrated that by getting a semicolon tattoo behind my ear and the following year the word Warr;or on my arm.
I look at my semicolons and remind myself I still have a story to tell and I will fight every day to tell it.
RIP Amy Bleuel
1985-2017
Comentários